Research Activities

Numerous CPHB projects aim to improve our understanding regarding the biology and ecology of the microbes and insects associated with agricultural plants and native woody hosts in South Africa.

Some of the microbes that are targeted belong to species in the Botryosphaeriaceae, Cryphonectriaceae and Uredinales (Ravenelia, Puccinia and Uromyces), as well as the genera Armillaria, Ganoderma, Fusarium, Mycosphaerella, Phellinus, Ceratocystis, Gondwanamyces, Coniothyrium (Colletogloeopsis / Phaeophleospora / Kirramyces), Cylindrocladium, Dothistroma, Pantoea, Ophiostoma, Candidatus Liberibacter africanus and Phytophthora.

The insects currently receiving most attention include bark beetles, bruchid beetles, as well as Coryphodema tristis and a number of species that could possibly be used in biocontrol programmes.

Various CPHB projects also consider the ecology and population biology of specific tree species to evaluate the effect that human practices (e.g. timber harvesting, coppicing, bark stripping, etc.) might have on the target plant, ecosystems and the conservation of natural habitats. Many further focus on the possible impacts that soil properties, nutrients, rhizobial symbioses and climatic factors might have on the invasiveness of certain species in diverse landscapes. A small number of projects also aim to investigate the effects that drought, frost and fire might have on the sustainable usage of indigenous woody resources.

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.