The Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) was established based on a very small team of researchers at the University of the Free State and focused on a single threatening Eucalyptus disease problem. The programme has since grown to become highly recognised internationally as the single strongest programme dealing with pest and pathogen problems in plantation forestry in the world. The TPCP has also brought huge energy to agricultural research and education in the biological sciences in South Africa. For example, it formed the foundation for the establishment of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria, which has become a flagship research centre promoting many aspects of plant improvement in South Africa.

The TPCP represents a co-operative research initiative between the University of Pretoria and all private forestry companies in South Africa. It is also supported by the South African Government Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment. Other than long and short-term research, the TPCP provides members with extension services, training of forestry students at Universities, access to a world-class disease and pest diagnostic clinic and guidance in dealing with tree pest and pathogen problems. One of the key products of the TPCP is to produce biological control agents for insect pests that damage plantations belonging to members. This work depends on outstanding quarantine green house and related facilities.

The TPCP formed the basis for the establishment of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI)-National Research Foundation (NRF) Centre of Excellence in Plant Health Biotechnology (CPHB). This programme focuses on the health of native South African trees. Given that pests and pathogens are moving from native to non-native plantation trees and vice versa, there is substantial synergy between these two programmes.

New Publications

Tarigan M, Wingfield MJ, Jami F, Oliveira LSS, Saha MA, Durán A, Pham NQ. (2025) Pathogenicity of Pythium myriotylum on Acacia crassicarpa and Acacia mangium × Acacia auriculiformis clones in Indonesia. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science 87:1–5. 10.2989/20702620.2024.2432863
Motaung TE, Ratsoma FM, Kunene S, Santana QC, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD. (2025) Harnessing exogenous membrane vesicles for studying Fusarium circinatum and its biofilm communities. Microbial Pathogenesis 10.1016/j.micpath.2025.107368
van Dijk A, Wilson AM, Marx B, Hough B, Swalarsk-Parry BS, De Vos L, Wingfield MJ, Wingfield BD, Steenkamp ET. (2025) CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing reveals that the Pgs gene of Fusarium circinatum is involved in pathogenicity, growth and sporulation.. Fungal Genetics and Biology 10.1016/j.fgb.2025.103970
Balocchi F, Wingfield MJ, Paap T. (2025) First record of the white root rot fungus Dematophora necatrix on indigenous South African trees. Journal of Plant Pathology 10.1007/s42161-025-01861-x PDF
Coelho MA, David-Palma M, Aylward J, Pham NQ, Visagie CM, Fuchs T, Yilmaz N, Roets F, Sun S, Taylor JT, Wingfield BD, Fisher MC, Wingfield MJ, Heitman J. (2025) Decoding Cryptococcus: From African biodiversity to worldwide prevalence. PLOS Pathogens 21:e1012876. 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012876
Solís M, Hammerbacher A, Wingfield M.J, Naidoo S. (2025) Enhancing plantation forest sustainability: A review of Eucalyptus defence mechanisms to foliar fungal pathogens. Current Forestry Reports 10.1007/s40725-024-00243-3
Ratsoma MF, Santana QC, Wingfield BD, Steenkamp ET, Motaung TE. (2025) Understanding cargo sorting and interactive effects of membrane vesicles in fungal phytopathogens: Current knowledge and research gaps. Fungal Biology Reviews 51 10.1016/j.fbr.2025.100411
Harvey A, van den Berg N, Swart V. (2025) In silico characterisation of the avocado WAK/WAKL gene family with a focus on genes involved in defence against Phytophthora cinnamomi. Frontiers in Plant Science 15:1474781. 10.3389/fpls.2024.1474781 PDF
Wondafrash M, Wingfield MJ, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Mutitu EK, Jenya H, Paap T. (2025) DNA sequence data confirms the presence of two closely related cypress-feeding aphid species on African cypress (Widdringtonia spp.) in South Africa. Southern Forests 86:278-285. 10.2989/20702620.2024.2390863 PDF
Möller H, Slippers B, van den Berg N. (2025) Branch canker battles: understanding and managing the Botryosphaeriaceae in avocado. Phytoparasitica 53(17) 10.1007/s12600-024-01227-6
Pham NQ, Wingfield BD, Barnes I, Gazis R, Wingfield MJ. (2025) Elsinoe species: The rise of scab diseases. Plant Pathology 10.1111/ppa.14015
Aylward J, Atkins S, Roets F, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2025) Several Seiridium species (Sporocadaceae: Xylariales) cause cypress canker in South Africa. Fungal Biology 129:101528. 10.1016/j.funbio.2024.101528
Martin G, Canavan K, Chikowore G, Bugan R, De Lange W, du Toit B, Harding G, Heath R, Hill M, Hurley BP, Ivey P, Muir D, Musedeli J, Richardson DM, Slippers B, Stafford L, Turner A, Watson K, van Wilgen BW. (2025) Managing wilding pines in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa: Progress and prospects. South African Journal of Botany 177:377-391. 10.1016/j.sajb.2024.12.011 PDF
Wingfield MJ, Slippers B, Barnes I, Duong AT, Wingfield BD. (2025) The Pine pathogen Diplodia sapinea: Expanding frontiers. Current Forestry Reports 11(2) 10.1007/s40725-024-00236-2
Ashmore JS, Slippers B, Duong TA, Dittrich-Schröder G. (2024) Understanding the genetics of sex determination in insects and its relevance to genetic pest management. Insect Molecular Biology 10.1111/imb.12982
Oostlander AG, Elfstrand M, Oliva J, Stenlid J, Well L, Grober C, Klawonn F, Brandt U, Becker Y, Slippers B, von Bargen M, Brodde L, Fleißner A. (2024) Development of a molecular genetics and cell biology toolbox for the filamentous fungus Diplodia sapinea. PLoS ONE 19:e0308794. 10.1371/journal.pone.0308794
Knoppersen R, Hammerbacher A, Bose T. (2024) Fungal Planet description sheets: 1697–1780 (Description of Sporisorium enterogonipteri). Fungal Systematics and Evolution 14:325–577. 10.3114/fuse.2024.14.19
Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2024) Gene transfer between fungal species triggers repeated coffee wilt disease outbreaks. PLOS Biology 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002901
Teshome DT, Zharare GE, Ployet R, Naidoo S. (2024) Molecular mechanisms underlying tree host-pathogen interactions under drought stress and subsequent rewatering in Eucalyptus grandis. Plant Stress 10.1016/j.stress.2024.100697
Cho SE, Seo ST, Nam Y, Wingfield MJ, Lee DY. (2024) Chalaropsis pruni sp. nov. (Ceratocystidaceae), a new species from Prunus serrulata var. pubescens in South Korea. Phytotaxa 671(2):191-197. 10.11646/phytotaxa.671.2.8
Harvey A, van den Berg N, Swart V. (2024) Describing and characterizing the WAK/WAKL gene family across plant species: a systematic review. Frontiers in Plant Science 15:1467148. 10.3389/fpls.2024.1467148 PDF
Balocchi F, Wingfield MJ, Paap T. (2024) First Report of Fusarium Wilt and Pink Rot of Phoenix canariensis in South Africa. Forest Pathology 10.1111/efp.70001 PDF
Makunde PT, Slippers B, Hurley BP. (2024) Exploring the diversity of leafrollers (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) associated with eucalypts in South African forestry nurseries and plantations, with a new report of Strepsicrates sp.. Southern Forests 86(4):1-8. 10.2989/20702620.2024.2394219
Fuchs T, Visagie CM, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2024) Sporothrix and Sporotrichosis: A South African perspective on a growing global health threat. Mycoses 67(10):e13806. 10.1111/myc.13806
van Heerden A, Pham NQ, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ, Wilken PM. (2024) Six type-I PKS classes and highly conserved melanin and elsinochrome gene clusters found in diverse Elsinoë species. BMC Genomics 25:990. 10.1186/s12864-024-10920-z
Makunde PT, Slippers B, Hurley BP. (2024) First report of the giant conifer aphid, Cinara pinivora (Wilson) and the Monterey pine aphid, Essigella californica (Essig) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) in South Africa. Southern Forests 86:1-5. 10.2989/20702620.2024.2394218
Vilanova L, Caballol M, Zhang K, Olson Å, Barnes I, Wingfield MJ, Oliva J. (2024) New simple sequence repeat markers reveal undetected diversity in Spanish and Californian Diplodia sapinea populations. Fungal Genetics and Biology 175:103937. 10.1016/j.fgb.2024.103937
Hough B, Wingfield B, Read DA. (2024) Identification and characterization of mycoviruses in transcriptomes from the fungal family Ceratocystidaceae. Virus Genes 10.1007/s11262-024-02112-4 PDF
Bose T, Mahomed TG, Mbatha KC, Joubert JC, Hammerbacher A. (2024) Tissue ontogeny and chemical composition influence bacterial biodiversity in the wood and shoot tip of Populus nigra. Plant Biology :1-11. 10.1111/plb.13724
Aylward J, Marincowitz S, Basson RJ, Rippon W, Wingfield MJ, Roets F. (2024) Four new Geosmithia species from bark beetles infesting indigenous South African trees. Fungal Biology 10.1016/j.funbio.2024.09.006