Outbreaks of facial eczema in dairy cattle are more commonly reported in the Eastern Cape (South Africa). Facial eczema has previously been linked to a mycotoxicosis caused by the mycotoxin sporidesmin produced by Pseudopithomyces chartarum. We aim to survey dairy pastures collected during disease outbreaks to characterise the fungal communities present. Knowledge gained from this study will provide important baseline information on the fungi present in Eastern Cape pastures, many of which potentially produce mycotoxins and may affect the health of dairy cattle in the region.

I began my journey with FABI in 2017 during my Honours degree in the Microbiology department at the University of Pretoria. My project was based on comparative genomics to identify and characterise genes involved in promoting host-specificity in agriculturally important Fusarium species from the American clade of the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex. My Masters degree (2018-February 2020) followed up on my Honours project and was completed with a distinction.