Ms Mabodiba Maake
| PhD student | |
Department |
|
FABI |
|
| This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
My Supervisor/s
| Primary Supervisor | |
| Emma Steenkamp | |
| Fanus Venter |
My Files
- science and entrepreneurship outreach 2021
- Communication and interpersonal skills workshop 2021
- Eastern cape field trip 2021
- Eastern cape field trip (02-12-2020)
- ENFC INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2021
- KZN field trip 2021
- KZN field trip
- KZN field trip (first field trip 2020)
- SANSOR Seed packing 2020
- SANSOR Seed packing 2020
- SCIE-ENZA science and entrepreneurship outreach 2021
I completed my BSc in Applied microbiology in 2017, honours in Medical virology (2018), MSc in Microbiology (2022) all at the University of Pretoria. I am currently enrolled for my PhD in microbiology under the supervisions of Prof Fanus Venter, Emma Steenkamp, Dr Magriet van der Nest at the University of Pretoria, Dr Chrizelle Beukes at James Hutton Institute, UK, Dr Tomasz Stépkowski at the Agriculture and Biology Warsaw university of Life Sciences in Poland.
My MSc focused on the diversity of Bradyrhizobium and Mesorhizobium strains in South African indigenous legumes within the Genisteae tribe. The Genisteae tribe (sub-family Papilionoideae) is one of the largest legume tribes and are known to be predominantly nodulated by Bradyrhizobium. This study showed that southern African lineage Genisteae may associate predominantly with Mesorhizobium, while contributing towards unraveling the untapped rhizobia diversity in the country, novel bradyrhizobia and mesorhizobia species where identified and characterised. My PhD project, titled “Evolution and Biogeography of South African rhizobia” employs an integrated approach to evaluating rhizobial diversity and their co-evolution with their hosts, particularly in the Grassland Biome. This integrated approach includes genomic, pan genomic, phylogenetic, phylogenetic and phenotypic analysis. My studies contributes towards the discovery and development of highly effective rhizobia inoculants for sustainable and cheaper food production, while also diving deeper into understanding functional and ecological adaptation of strains in their respective regions and the evolution of the genus Bradyrhizobium as a whole.
Publications
Mentorship students
Mentorship of FABI internship students:
2021: Lungani Nkosi
Honours mentorship and supervision:
2021: Melandré van Lill
2024: Freddie Botha
Mentorship students, University of Pretoria:
2022: Alienke, Nicole Chapfunga
2023: Cebo Le Nkosi, Njabulo Makhoba
2024: Cebo Le Nkosi
News
Two more candidates, Phozisa Dlokweni and Sindiso Mtshubungu joined the internship programme in Phytosanitation and Biosecurity at FABI on 1 October. Phozisa and Sindiso both have obtained degrees in forestry at the Nelson Mandela University.
FABI’s popular online Quiz Night had 12 teams battling for honours once again on 25 July.
FABI was well represented at the 21st Biennial Conference of the South African Society of Microbiology (SASM) took place virtually between 4-6 May.
Dr Miekie Human and Stefan Links are employed by Grain SA, but have been seconded to the University of Pretoria with effect from 1 February for part of their time.
Phyloge-knows-it outwitted 12 teams to be crowned winners at FABI’s first virtual Quiz Night on 4 September.
FABIans joined young researchers from several countries for the South African Society of Bioinformatics Student Council (SASBi-SC) Online Student Symposium from 4-6 August. FABIans contributed two oral presentations and a project overview to the 30 presentations at the online symposium.
For the first time in its 23-year history, FABI hosted a virtual Society for the Presentation of Outrageous Findings (SPOOF) event on 17 July. FABIans submitted nine pre-recorded videos, which in the spirit of the time, reflected the lighter moments of a nation under lockdown. The Gene Jockeys took the prize for the Best Abstract (with the subliminal message “Vote for us. FABI Director Prof.