All field trips and field extension work undertaken by the staff and students of the CTHB is coordinated by Prof Jolanda Roux. She also ensures that reports on these trips and research findings are communicated to relevant stakeholders. The extension component of the CTHB involves the presentation of talks at research meetings and field days, publication of articles in newsletters and newspapers as well as radio interviews to educate the public regarding tree health.

Research in the Kruger National Park (KNP)

In the latter part of 2004, the CTHB formed an alliance with the KNP in order to study the diseases of trees in the park.

One of the main projects constituting this research agreement was to investigate fungi and insects associated with wounds on trees caused by elephants in KNP. Additional projects have been initiated to identify any possible serious tree diseases present in the reserve.

(See "Information Nuggets" for more detail)

African collaborations

Insect pests and pathogens do not recognize international boundaries, making it crucial for collaboration between different countries in order to effectively manage tree diseases. There has thus been a strong drive by the TPCP and CTHB to build collaborations with researchers in other African countries, including Cameroon, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Several disease survey trips are regularly undertaken to these countries, where most activities focus on the health of Myrtales, Adansonia digitata and other savanna tree species.

(See "Information Nuggets" for more detail)

Pest and Pathogen Diagnostic Clinic

The TPCP and CTHB maintain a world-class disease and insect pest Diagnostic Clinic. In addition to providing an invaluable service to the South African Forestry Industry, the Diagnostic Clinic also provides stakeholders with the capacity to identify insect pest and disease outbreaks associated with native trees.

For more information about the disease and insect pest Diagnostic Clinic, please visit: TPCP Services.

New Publications

Aylward J, Ngubane NP, Dreyer LL, Oberlander K, Wingfield MJ, Roets F. (2023) Convergent evolution unites the population genetics of Protea-associated ophiostomatoid fungi. Fungal Ecology 63:101242. 10.1016/j.funeco.2023.101242
Tarigan M, Pham NQ, Jami F, Oliveira LSS, Saha MA, Duran A, Wingfield MJ. (2023) Calonectria species diversity on eucalypts in Indonesia. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science 10.2989/20702620.2023.2179441
Aylward J, Roets F, Dreyer LL, Wingfield MJ. (2023) Unseen fungal biodiversity and complex inter-organismal interactions in Protea flower heads. Fungal Biology Reviews 45:100317. 10.1016/j.fbr.2023.100317
Bose T, Hammerbacher A, Jones W, Roux J, Slippers B, Wingfield MJ. (2023) Hybrid vigor in Eucalyptus increases resistance against Phytophthora root rot. Mycological Progress 22:24. 10.1007/s11557-023-01877-6
Migliorini D, Auger-Rozenberg M-A, Battisti A, Brockerhoff E, Eschen R, Fan J-t, Jactel H, Orazio C, Paap T, Prospero S, Ren L, Kenis M, Roques A, Santini A. (2023) Towards a global sentinel plants research strategy to prevent new introductions of non-native pests and pathogens in forests. The experience of HOMED. Research Ideas and Outcomes 9:e96744. 10.3897/rio.9.e96744
Katumanyane A, Slippers B, Wondafrash M, Malan AP, Hurley BP. (2023) Susceptibility of white grubs from forestry and sugarcane plantations in South Africa to entomopathogenic nematodes. BioControl 10.1007/s10526-023-10185-7
Meinecke CD, de Vos L, Yilmaz N, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield MJ, Wingfield BD. (2023) A LAMP assay for rapid detection of th epitch canker pathogen Fusarium circinatum. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-04-22-0972-SR
Raffa KF, Brockerhoff EG, Grégoire JC, Hamelin RC, Liebhold AM, Santini A, Venette RC, Wingfield MJ. (2023) Approaches to forecasting damage by invasive forest insects and pathogens: A cross-assessment. BioScience (biac108) 10.1093/biosci/biac108
Luki-Marie Scheepers, Jeremy D. Allison, Bernard Slippers, Egmont R. Rohwer, Patrick M. Mc Millan, Jan E. Bello. (2023) Pine Emperor moths from KwaZulu-Natal use the same pheromone component previously isolated from Nudaurelia cytherea (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) from the Western Cape. African Entomology 31((2023)):1-9. 10.17159/2254-8854/2023/a13231
Mesarich CH, Barnes I, Bradley EL, de la Rosa S, de Wit PJGM, Gou Y, Griffiths SA, Hamelin RC, Joosten MHAJ, Lu M, McCarthy HM, Schol CR, Stergiopoulos I, Tarallo M, Zaccaron AZ, Bradshaw RE. (2023) Beyond the genomes of Fulvia fulva (syn. Cladosporium fulvum) and Dothistroma septosporum: New insights into how these fungal pathogens interact with their host plants. Molecular Plant Pathology 00:1-21. 10.1111/mpp.13309
Liang XY, Wang QC, Chen SF. (2023) Phylogeny, Morphology, Distribution, and Pathogenicity of Seven Calonectria Species from Leaf Blighted Eucalyptus in HaiNai Island, China. Plant Disease https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-12-22-2802-RE PDF
Liu Y, Chen SF. (2023) Diversity and Distribution of Calonectria Species in Soils from Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis, Pinus massoniana, and Cunninghamia lanceolata Plantations in Four Provinces in Southern China. Journal of Fungi 9(2):198. 10.3390/jof9020198 PDF
Makunde PT, Slippers B, Bush SJ, Hurley BP. (2023) Biology of the invasive shell lerp psyllid, Spondyliaspis cf. plicatuloides (Froggatt) (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae). African Entomology 31( e13747) 10.17159/2254-8854/2023/a13747 PDF
Eshetu FB, Barnes I, Nahrung FH, Fitza KNE, Meurisse N, Slippers B. (2023) Unexpected diversity in historical biological control programs: Population genetics of the nematode Deladenus siricidicola in Australia and New Zealand. Biological Control 180 10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105183
Morgan SW, Read DA, Burger JT, Pietersen G. (2023) Diversity of viroids infecting grapevines in the South African Vitis germplasm collection. Virus Genes 10.1007/s11262-023-01971-7
Hiroyuki S, Marincowitz S, Roux J, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2023) First report of canker caused by Chrysoporthe austroafricana on the plantation-grown eucalypt Corymbia henryi in South Africa. Forestry :1-9. 10.1093/forestry/cpac054
Bose T, Dovey S, Brachmann A, Witfeld F, Begerow D, Kemler M, Roux J, Slippers B, Vivas M, Wingfield MJ. (2023) Retention of post-harvest residues enhances soil fungal biodiversity in Eucalyptus plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 532:120806. 10.1016/j.foreco.2023.120806
Visagie CM, Yilmaz N. (2023) Along the footpath of Penicillium discovery: Six new species from the Woodville Big Tree Forest Trail. Mycologia 115:87–106. 10.1080/00275514.2022.2135915
Dzomba EF, Van der Nest MA, Mthembu JNT, Soma P, Snyman MA, Chimonyo M, Muchadeyi FC. (2023) Selection signature analysis and genome-wide divergence of South African Merino breeds from their founders. Frontiers in Genetics 13:932272. 10.3389/fgene.2022.932272
Kandasamy D, Zaman R, Nakamura Y, Zhao T, Hartmann H, Andersson MN, Hammerbacher A, Gershenzon J. (2023) Conifer-killing bark beetles locate fungal symbionts by detecting volatile fungal metabolites of host tree resin monoterpenes. PLoS biology 21(2):e3001887.
Visagie CM, Boekhout T, Theelen B, Dijksterhuis J, Yilmaz N, Seifert KA. (2023) Da Vinci's yeast: Blastobotrys davincii f.a., sp. nov. Yeast 40:7–31. 10.1002/yea.3816
van der Nest A, Wingfield MJ, Sadiković D, Mullett MS, Marçais B, Queloz V, Adamčíková K, Davydenko K, Barnes I. (2023) Population structure and diversity of the needle pathogen Dothistroma pini suggests human-mediated movement in Europe. Frontiers in Genetics 14(1103331) 10.3389/fgene.2023.1103331 PDF
David Read, Bernard Slippers, Emma Steenkamp. (2022) Genomic characterization of a novel potyvirus infecting Barleria repens in South Africa. Archives of Virology 10.1007/s00705-022-05662-w
Francina L. Bopape, Chrizelle W. Beukes, Kopotsa Katlego, Ahmed I. Hassen, Emma T. Steenkamp, Eastonce T. Gwata. (2022) Symbiotic Performance and Characterization of Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) Rhizobia Occurring in South African Soils. Agriculture 13(1):30. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13010030
Bian C, Takashi H, Houbraken J, Visagie CM, Ban S, Yaguchi T, D'hooge E, Sklenár F, Kusuya Y, Hubka V. (2022) Reducing the number of accepted species in Aspergillus series Nigri. Studies in Mycology 102:95–132. 10.3114/sim.2022.102.03
David Read, Ronel Roberts, Goddy Prinsloo, Genevieve Thompson. (2022) Genomic and phylogenetic characterization of wheat yellows virus, a novel tenuivirus infecting wheat in South Africa. Archives of Virology 10.1007/s00705-022-05649-7
Wanjofu EI, Venter SN, Beukes CW, Steenkamp ET, Gwata ET, Muema EK. (2022) Nodulation and Growth Promotion of Chickpea by Mesorhizobium Isolates from Diverse Sources. MDPI-Microorganisms 10(12):1-16.
Osborn RK, Castro J, Duong TA, Hulcr J, Li Y, Martínez M, Cognato AI. (2022) Symbiotic Fungi Associated With Xyleborine Ambrosia Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) and the Imperative of Global Collaboration. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 10.1093/aesa/saac024
Pham NQ, Marincowitz S, Chen SF, Rodas CA, Wingfield MJ. (2022) Soil-borne Calonectria (Hypocreales, Nectriaceae) associated with Eucalyptus plantations in Colombia. MycoKeys 94:17-35. 10.3897/mycokeys.94.96301
Chang J, Duong TA, Schoeman C, Ma X, Roodt D, Barker N, Li Z, Van de Peer V, Mizrachi E. (2022) The Genome of the King Protea, Protea cynaroides. The Plant Journal 10.1111/tpj.16044
Wingfield BD, Berger DK, Coetzee MPA, Duong TA, Martin A, Pham NQ, Van den Berg N, Wilken PM, Arun-Chinnappa KS, Barnes I, Buthelezi S, Dahanayaka BA, Durán A, Engelbrecht J, Feurtey A, Fourie A, Fourie G, Hartley J, Kabwe ENK, Maphosa M, Narh Mensah DL, Nsibo DL, Potgieter L, Poudel B, Stukenbrock EH, Thomas C, Vaghefi N, Welgemoed T, Wingfield MJ. (2022) IMA genome‑F17. 13:19. 10.1186/s43008-022-00104-3
Candotti J, Christie N, Ployet R, Mostert-O’Neill MM, Reynolds SM, Neves LG, Naidoo S, Mizrachi E, Duong TA, Myburg AA. (2022) Haplotype mining panel for genetic dissection and breeding in Eucalyptus. The Plant Journal 10.1111/tpj.16026
Swalarsk Parry BS, Steenkamp ET, Van Wyk S, Santana QC, van der Nest MA, Hammerbacher A, Wingfield BD, De Vos L. (2022) Identification and characterization of a QTL for growth of Fusarium circinatum on pine-based medium. Journal of Fungi 8(11):1214. 10.3390/jof8111214
Sklenář F, Glässnerová K, Jurjević Z, Houbraken J, Samson RA, Visagie CM, Yilmaz N, Gene J, Cano J, Chen AJ, Nováková A, Yaguchi T, Kolařík M, Hubka V. (2022) Taxonomy of Aspergillus series Versicolores: species reduction and lessons learned about intraspecific variability. Studies in Mycology 102:53–93. 10.3114/sim.2022.102.02
Wienk R, Mostert‑O’Neill M, Abeysekara N, Manosalva P, Freeman B, van den Berg N. (2022) Genetic diversity, population structure and clonal verification in South African avocado cultivars using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Tree Genetics and Genomes 18(41) 10.1007/s11295-022-01573-8 PDF
Narh Mensah D, Wingfield B, Coetzee MPA. (2022) Nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene clusters and characteristics of predicted NRPS-dependent siderophore synthetases in Armillaria and other species in the Physalacriaceae. Current Genetics 10.1007/s00294-022-01256-w
Pal E, Allison JD, Guignard Q, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Fourie G. (2022) Characterisation of the Alarm Pheromone of Bathycoelia Distincta (Pentatomidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology 10.1007/s10886-022-01388-w
Ngo TT, Nguyen B-LT, Duong TA, Nguyen T-HT, Nguyen TL, Kieu KT, Do M-HT, Nguyen SV, Thang ND, Pham HTL. (2022) Polyphasic evaluation and cytotoxic investigation of isolated cyanobacteria with an emphasis on potent activities of a Scytonema strain. Frontiers in Microbiology 13:1025755. 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1025755
Glässnerová K, Kolařík M, Kubátová A, Siqueira JPZ, Gené J, Visagie CM, Yaguchi T, Houbraken J, Sklenář F, Hubka V. (2022) A monograph of Aspergillus section Candidi. Studies in Mycology 102:1–51. 10.3114/sim.2022.102.01
Solís M, Hammerbacher A, Wingfield MJ, Naidoo S. (2022) A robust disease scoring method to screen Eucalyptus for resistance against the aggressive leaf blight pathogen, Teratosphaeria destructans. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1347-RE
Balocchi F, Marincowitz S, Wingfield MJ, Ahumada R, Barnes I. (2022) Three new species of Pewenomyces (Coryneliaceae) from Araucaria araucana in Chile. Mycological Progress 21(92):1:23. 10.1007/s11557-022-01840-x PDF
Guillino ML, Pugliese M, Pan X, Makkouk K, Loplan R, Juroszek P, Hurley BP, Garrett K, Chakraborty S, Angelotti F, Al-Jboory I, Albajes R, Stephenson T. (2022) Climate change and pathways used by pests as challenges to plant health in agriculture and forestry. Sustainability 14:12421. 10.3390/su141912421 PDF
Wilson AM, Wingfield MJ, Wingfield BD. (2022) Truncation of MAT1-2-7 deregulates developmental pathways associated with sexual reproduction in Huntiella omanensis. Microbiology Spectrum 10(5) 10.1128/spectrum.01425-22
Hedlund BP, Chuvochina M, Hugenholtz P, Konstantinidis, Murray AE, Palmer M, Parks DH, Probst AJ, Reysenbach A, Rodriguez-R LM, Rossello-Mora R, Sutcliffe IC, Venter SN, Whitman WB. (2022) SeqCode: a nomenclatural code for prokaryotes described from sequence data. Nature Microbiology 10.1038/s41564-022-01214-9 PDF
Fru FF, Wingfield MJ, Roux J, Steenkamp ET. (2022) High diversity and clonality are hallmarks of Fusarium circinatum in South Africa. Plant Pathology 10.1111/ppa.13644
Venter SN, Palmer M, Steenkamp ET. (2022) Relevance of prokaryotic subspecies in the age of genomics. New microbe and New infections 48 10.1016/j.nmni.2022.101024
Read DA, Pietersen G, Slippers B, Steenkamp ET. (2022) Chrysanthemum virus B and chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid infect chrysanthemum in South Africa. Australasian Plant Disease Notes 10.1007/s13314-022-00478-8
Laas M, Adamson K, Barnes I, Janoušek J, Mullett MS, Adamčíková K, Akiba M, Beenken L, Braganca H, Bulgakov TS, Capretti P. (2022) Diversity, migration routes, and worldwide population genetic structure of Lecanosticta acicola, the causal agent of brown spot needle blight. Molecular Plant Pathology 23(11):1620-1639. 10.1111/mpp.13257
Suzuki H, Marincowitz S, Winfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2022) Genetic diversity and population structure of Chrysoporthe deuterocubensis isolates from Melastoma and Eucalyptus in Malaysia and Indonesia. Forest Pathology 10.1111/efp.12762
Liu QL, Wingfield MJ, Doung TA, Wingfield BD, Chen SF. (2022) Diversity and distribution of Calonectria species from plantation and forest soils in FuJian Province, China. Journal of Fungi 8(8):811. 10.3390/jof8080811