The University of Pretoria conferred 14 postgraduate degrees – eight PhD degrees and six MSc degrees – to FABIans during the Spring Graduation Ceremony on 5 September. Congratulations to these FABIans on their remarkable achievements!   

PhD 

Dr Chrizelle Beukes

Thesis: Genomic diversity and phylogeography of South African rhizobia.

Supervisor: Prof ET Steenkamp

Co-supervisors: Prof SN Venter, Prof TM Stepkowski (Warsaw University of Life Sciences), Dr MM le Roux (South African National Biodiversity Institute)

Dr Arista Fourie

Thesis: A genomic approach towards understanding host specificity and pathogenicity in two Ceratocystis species.

Supervisor: Dr I Barnes

Co-supervisors: Prof BD Wingfield, Prof MJ Wingfield, Dr MA van der Nest

Dr Zander Human

Thesis: The microbial ecology of Protea repens (Proteaceae) infructescences and the surrounding environment.

Supervisor: Prof ZW de Beer

Co-supervisors: Prof SN Venter, Prof MJ Wingfield

Dr Inosters Nzuki 

Thesis: QTL mapping for pest and disease resistance in cassava varieties Kiroba and AR37-80 and coincidence of QTLs with introgression regions from Manihot glaziovii.

Supervisor: Prof AA Myburg

Co-supervisors: Dr NA van der Merwe, Dr ME Ferguson (International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, Kenya)

Dr Caryn Oates

Thesis: Eucalyptus morphological and molecular responses to Leptocybe invasa oviposition.

Supervisor: Prof S Naidoo

Co-supervisors: Prof KJ Denby (University of Warwick, United Kingdom), Prof AA Myburg, Prof B Slippers

Dr Danielle Roodt

Thesis: The evolution of xylogenesis in vascular plants.

Supervisor: Prof E Mizrachi

Co-supervisor: Prof YEP van de Peer

Dr Quentin Santana

Thesis: Population and genomic analyses of the pitch canker pathogen Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg & O'Donnell.

Supervisor: Prof MPA Coetzee

Co-Supervisors: Prof ET Steenkamp, Prof BD Wingfield, Prof MJ Wingfield

Dr Erik Visser

Thesis: Transcriptomic model of resistance mechanisms in the Pinus-Fusarium circinatum interaction.

Supervisor: Prof S Naidoo

Co-supervisors: Prof AA Myburg, Prof ET Steenkamp, Prof JL Wegrzyn (University of Connecticut, USA)

MSc

Claudio de Nuzzo 

Thesis: Endogenous peptide defence in maize against the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith).

Supervisor: Prof DK Berger

Co-supervisor: Prof K Krüger

Lichelle Grobler 

Dissertation: Agrobacterium-mediated CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in Nicotiana benthamiana.

Supervisor: Dr BG Crampton

Co-supervisors: Dr MM O'Kennedy (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), Dr P Pillay (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research). 

Zanele Mahlangu (with distinction)

Dissertation: Seed quality of farm-saved dry bean produced by smallholder farmers in the uThukela district of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

Supervisor:  Prof TAS Aveling

Co-supervisor: Dr Q Kritzinger

Dineo Mailula (with distinction)

Dissertation: Production of fusel alcohols in the species of the family Ceratocystidaecea. 

Supervisor: Dr A Hammerbacher

Co-supervisors: Prof BD Wingfield, Dr MA van der Nest

Zanelle Mufamadi 

Dissertation: Identification of the causal agents and management of husk rot on macadamia in South Africa.

Supervisor: Prof N van den Berg

Co-supervisor: Dr G Fourie

Pfano Mbedzi

Dissertation: Evaluation of simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers associated with resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Barry in commercial South African soybean cultivars.

Supervisor: Prof BJ Vorster

Co-supervisor: Prof JE van der Waals