Champagne corks popped on 14 June when the TPCP research team in FABI celebrated the first, first-author publication of a degree, by seven postgraduate students in the group. Publishing a research paper in an ISI rated journal marks an important milestone in the professional and academic career of any student and deserves a celebration. The group of seven FABIans included six PhD students, Birhan Abate, Chrizelle Beukes, Mesfin Gossa, Aquillah Kanzi, Mkhululi Maposa and Marike Palmer, as well as MSc student Samantha Bush. We congratulate these students on their achievements and for building  on one of the foundations on which FABI is built: high quality research and publication output.

The seven papers are listed below:

Abate BA, Malan AP, Tiedt LR, Wingfield MJ, Slippers B, Hurley BP. (2016) Steinernema fabii n. sp. (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae), a new entomopathogenic nematode from South Africa. Nematology 18(2):235-255. 10.1163/15685411-00002956

Bush SJ, Slippers B, Neser S, Harney M, Dittrich-Schroder G. (2016) Six recently recorded Australian insects associated with Eucalyptus in South Africa. African Entomology (in press) 10.4001/003.024.0000

Beukes CW, Stepkowski T, Venter SN, Clapa T, Phalane FL, le Roux MM, Steenkamp ET. (2016) Crotalarieae and Genisteae of the South African Great Escarpment are nodulated by novel Bradyrhizobium species with unique and diverse symbiotic loci. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 100:206-218.10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.011

Kanzi AM, Wingfield BD, Steenkamp ET, Naidoo S, Van der Merwe NA. (2016) Intron derived size polymorphism in the mitochondrial genomes of closely related Chrysoporthe species. PLOS ONE 11(6):e0156104. 10.1371/journal.pone.0156104

Maphosa MN, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD. (2016) Genome-based selection and characterization of Fusarium circinatum-specific sequences. G3: Genes|Genomes|Genetics 6(3):631-639. 10.1534/g3.115.025817

Palmer M, De Maayer P, Poulsen M, Steenkamp ET, Van Zyl E, Coutinho TA, Venter SN. (2016) Draft genome sequences of Pantoea agglomerans and Pantoea vagans isolates associated with termites. Standards in Genomic Sciences 11(23) 10.1186/s40793-016-0144-z

Wondafrash M, Slippers B, Garnas J, Roux G, Foit J, Langor DW, Hurley BP. (2016) Identification and genetic diversity of two invasive Pissodes spp. Germar (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in their introduced range in the southern hemisphere. Biological Invasions 10.1007/s10530-016-1159-5