FABI launched its first virtual International Seminar Series on 28 May, with more than 160 participants from 20 countries around the world tuning in. The Institute will host these virtual seminars monthly, giving registered participants the opportunity to engage with global leaders on plant health research. FABI Director Professor Bernard Slippers described the seminar series as a platform to learn and exchange ideas while keeping open the networks FABI has maintained over the years with research partners and collaborators worldwide. Prof. Slippers said in light of the “unprecedented” challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the seminars were a means to stay connected with the international research community and to commemorate 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health. 

Dr Joey Tanney, a research scientist at the Pacific Forestry Centre in Canada, kick-started the series with his seminar “Endophyte insights: Modulating tree microbiomes and the new paradigm of forest tree health”. Dr Tanney discussed the role of endophytes in forest health as well as the complexities in their life histories and taxonomy. Describing endophytes as “ubiquitous” but “phylogenetically diverse”, Dr Tanney said their interactions in forests were diverse and difficult to categorise. He said endophytes might bestow resistance or tolerance to a variety of abiotic and biotic stresses, offering potential applications in forestry. Modulating tree microbiomes, for example, by inoculating seedlings with beneficial endophyte strains, offers new approaches and tools to promote forest health, he said. Dr Tanney warned that endophytes present a significant phytosanitary risk in the global movement of live plants because they could be pathogenic when introduced to new environments.

The FABI International Seminar Series is co-ordinated by Prof. Cobus Visagie, Dr Tuan Duong and Morné Booij-Liewes. Registration for the FABI International Seminar Series is free and open to all who would like to attend. Register here to receive notifications on upcoming seminars.