Lazarus Mavima concluded his PhD journey with a Prestige Seminar “Evolution and biology of South African Paraburkholderia species” in the FABI Auditorium on 28 August. His PhD was completed under the supervision of Prof. Fanus Venter, Prof. Emma Steenkamp and Prof. Martin Coetzee. The external examiners for his thesis were Prof. Peter Young (University of York, UK) and Prof. Nisha Tak (Jai Narain Vyas University, India) and the internal examiner was Prof. Teresa Coutinho.

Prof. Venter said that Lazarus was a quiet but solid and dependable person who would always help others. He had overcome the challenges of being stuck in his home country, Zimbabwe during the Covid lockdown to complete his PhD and publish all but one chapter of his thesis.

Lazarus’ study provides a comprehensive genome-based investigation of rhizobial Paraburkholderia, with particular emphasis on Southern African lineages, to elucidate the evolutionary processes underlying their diversity, biogeography, and symbiotic and plant growth–promoting traits. Collectively, this work establishes rhizobial Paraburkholderia as evolutionarily dynamic and ecologically specialized, while highlighting their untapped potential as indigenous bio-inoculants for sustainable agriculture, particularly in Southern African systems.