The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) typically holds about 60 meetings covering all areas of Forest Research every year. During the CoViD-19 pandemic, these meetings by necessity reduced in frequency and those that were held were ‘virtual’ events. It was thus with great enthusiasm that IUFRO Division 7, which focusses on tree health and specifically pathology and entomology issues, was able to host an in-person meeting during September 2022. The meeting, held in Lisbon between 6 and 8 September, was attended by approximately 220 forest scientists including 14 team members. Members of the Management Committee of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) attending the meeting included Prof. Bernard Slippers (FABI Director), Prof. Irene Barnes, Prof. Brett Hurley, Prof. Brenda Wingfield, Prof. Martin Coetzee, Prof. Sanushka Naidoo and Prof. Mike Wingfield who all made presentations including a invited plenary address by Prof. Mike Wingfield.  They were joined by Dr Trudy Paap, Dr Michelle Schröder, Dr Quentin Guignard, Myriam Solis, Nam Pham, Ginna Granados, Christoff Joubert and Privilege Makunde.  The meeting was also attended by many formal collaborators and adjunct FABI staff members from South Africa and other countries of the world. FABI contributed 38 presentations at the meeting including those covering many aspects of pests and pathogens affecting forests and forestry globally. 

Conference Presentations

Barnes, I., Hlongwane, G., Roux, J., Durán, A., Wingfield, M.J. Ceratocystis wilt on Acacia and Eucalyptus: emerging evidence for host range expansions.

Coetzee, M.P.A., Ramokgano, C. Ramabulana, E., Roux, J., Slippers, B., Steenkamp, E.T. Botryosphaeriaceae associated with three native tree species in a subtropical steppe region of South Africa.

Granados, G.M., Rodas, C.A., Wingfield, M.J., Barnes, I. Evidence of new introductions and the sexual stage of Dothistroma septosporum in Colombia.

Guignard, Q., Strom, B., Goodwin, J., Allison, J. Effect of trap design and canopy cover on pest beetle catch.

Hurley, B.P., Katumanyane, A., Rakubu, I., Malan, A.P., Wondafrash, M., Slippers, B. The use of entomopathogenic nematodes to control forest insect pests.

Joubert, J., Sivparsad, B., Schröder, M., Germishuizen, I., Chen, J., Hurley, B., Allison, J., Hammerbacher A. Susceptibility of Eucalyptus trees to defoliation by the Eucalyptus snout beetle, Gonipterus sp. n. 2, is enhanced by high foliar contents of 1,8-cineole, oxalic acid, and sucrose and low contents of palmitic and shikimic acid.

Makunde, P.T., Joubert, J. C., Slippers, B., Hurley, B. P., Hammerbacher, A. Host preference of the invasive Eucalyptus psyllid, Spondyliaspis cf. plicatuloides (Froggatt) (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae).

Narh Mensah, D.L., Wingfield, B.D., Coetzee, M.P.A. Two distinct NRPS independent siderophore synthetase gene clusters identified in Armillaria species.

Paap, T., Rodas, C., Santini, A., Granados, G., Pecori, F., Wingfield, M.J. Myrtus communis in Europe threatened by the South African and pandemic strains of the myrtle rust pathogen Austropuccinia psidii.

Pham, N.Q., Barnes, I., Muro Abad, J.I., Durán, A., Wingfield, M.J. Eucalyptus scab and shoot malformation: An unexpected new threat to plantation forestry globally.

Schröder, M.L., Nahrung, H.F., de Souza, N.M., Jones, M., Yilmaz, N., Lawson, S.A., Slippers, B., Wingfield, M.J., Hurley, B.P. Diversification of the biological control of Gonipterus sp. n. 2 in South Africa.

Solís, M., Wingfield, M.J., Hammerbacher A., Naidoo S. An artificial inoculation system for disease screening against the Eucalyptus leaf blight pathogen, Teratosphaeria destructans.

Swanepoel, S., Oates, C. N., Visser, E. A., Shuey, L. S., Pegg, G. S. and Naidoo, S. The molecular interaction between Eucalyptus grandis and myrtle rust, Austropuccinia psidii.

Slippers, B., Hurley, B.P., Allison, J. Precision Pest Management in plantation forests.

Slippers, B., Nahrung, H., Fitza, K., Eshetu, F., Barnes, I., Hurley, B. P. Insect-fungal joint invasions and biological control: Lessons from the global Sirex noctilio invasion.

Wingfield M.J.  Global tree health in the future: A world of challenges and opportunities (Plenary session).

Posters:

Balocchi, F, Wingfield, M.J., Marincowitz, S., Ahumada, R., Barnes,I. Novel fungi in Pewenomyces (Coryneliaceae) associated with cankers and die-back of Araucaria araucana in Chile.

Hough, B., Wingfield, B.D., Wilson, A.M., Read, D.A. Discovery of a novel mycovirus in Ceratocystis fimbriata.

Klynsmith, L., A. Postma, T.A. Duong, J.D. Allison, B. Slippers. Transcriptomics reveal chemosensory gene signatures for ecological niche and behavioural specialisation in Sirex noctilio.

Makunde, P.T., Slippers, B., Hurley, B.P  Host specificity of Psyllaephagus (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) towards invasive eucalypt psyllids (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae).

Paap, T., Wingfield, M.J., Burgess, T.I., Wilson, J.R.U., Richardson, D.M., Santini, A. Invasion frameworks: a forest pathogen perspective.

Pham, N.Q., Marincowitz, S., Chen, S.F., Rodas, C.A., Wingfield, M.J. Soil-borne Calonectria species associated with commercial Eucalyptus plantation in Colombia.

Phungula, S., Hurley, B.P., Paap, T., Barten, H., Balocchi, F., Carstensen, G., Roux, J. Insect pests and diseases in plantation forestry nurseries in South Africa.

Ramírez, N., Wingfield, M.J., Pham, N., Loitey, J.M., Pérez, M., Pérez, C.A. Novel Calonectria species associated with a serious leaf disease on native Ilex paraguariensis in Uruguay.

Solís, M., Havenga, M., Wingfield, B.D., Naidoo, S., Hammerbacher, A., Wingfield, M.J., Aylward, J. Infection and expression of secondary metabolite gene clusters in the Eucalyptus shoot and leaf pathogen, Teratosphaeria destructans.

Swalarsk-Parry, B.S., van der Nest, M.A., de Vos, L., Santana, Q.C., Wingfield, B.D., Steenkamp, E.T. Using GWAS to identify genes associated with virulence in F. circinatum.

Theron, C.A., Wingfield, M.J., Ahumada, R., Carnegie, A.J., Fraser, S., Rodas, C.A.,

Barnes, I. Lophodermium species diversity on needles of non-native Pinus spp. in the Southern Hemisphere.

van Heerden, A., Pham, N.Q., Wingfield, B.D., Wingfield, M.J., Duong, T.A., Wilken, P.M. A LAMP assay for in-field detection of Elsinoë necatrix, the causal agent of Eucalyptus scab and shoot malformation.

Visser, E.A., Schultze, S.P., Kampmann, T.P., Wegrzyn, J.L., Naidoo, S. Dual RNA-seq comparison of host responses to Fusarium circinatum challenge in tropical pines.

Wingfield, B.D., Wingfield, M.J., Duong, T.A. Mechanism of cycloheximide resistance in the tree-infesting and bark-beetle associated Ophiostomatalean fungi resolved.

FABI Collaborators

Allison, J.D., Goodwin, J., Staton, T., Girling, R., Smith, S. M., Redak, R. Variation in performance of intercept trap designs: prospects for improved performance.

Germishuizen, I., Gevers, C. R., Hurley, B. P. Monitoring the Eucalyptus gall wasp Leptocybe invasa and its parasitoids in the commercial plantation of South Africa.

Ghosh, S.K., Slot, J.C., Visser, E.A., Naidoo, S., Sovic, M.G., Conrad, A.O., Kyre, B., Vijaykumar, V., Bonello, P.(E). Mechanisms of pine disease susceptibility under experimental climate change.

Lawson, S.A., de Souza, N.M., Burgess T., Withers T., Schröder M., Nahrung H. Cryptic species and biological control: four case studies of eucalypt plantation pests.

Meinecke, C.D., de Vos, L., Yilmaz, N., Steenkamp, E. T., Wingfield, M. J., Wingfield, B.D, Villari, C. A field-ready LAMP assay to detect Fusarium circinatum from host tissue.

Oliveira, L.S.S., Grzeskowiak, V., Prasetyo, A., Lumbangaol, P.D. M., Asfa, R., Ferlianda, I.A., Tarigan, M., Duran, A. Ceratocystis wilt affecting wood properties and tree growth of Eucalyptus pellita in Indonesia.

Queffelec, J. Gender issues in forest management.

Queffelec, J., Sullivan, B., Miller, D., Mckenney, J., Allison, J. D. Evolution of the pheromone of the small southern pine engraver through asymmetric tracking.

Rodas, C., Wingfield, M. Disease and insect pest challenges to plantation forestry in Colombia.

Roux, J., Jetton, R.M. Sentinel trials in commercial plantations, opportunities and challenges

Roux, J., Pham, N., Phungula, S., Wingfield, M.J. First report of Elsinoë scab and shoot malformation disease on Eucalyptus in South Africa.

Sivparsad, B.J., Germishuizen, I., Hurley, B. P., Morris, A. R. Determining the impact of canopy pests on growth of Eucalyptus spp. in South Africa.