The symbioses between plants of the Rubiaceae and Primulaceae families with Burkholderia bacteria represent unique and intimate plant–bacterial relationships. Many of these interactions have been identified through ...
Mushomba, Martin Mbugua(University of Pretoria, 2023)
The past century saw the discovery of antibiotics as an effective treatment for bacterial
infections. Life-threatening infections that were previously untreatable could now be
neutralized by antibiotics with few side ...
Jamison-Daniels, Samantha-Leigh(University of Pretoria, 2022)
To successfully predict how ecosystems and associated species will respond to global change drivers, an understanding of the underlying drivers of the assembly, diversity and functional responses of biological communities ...
Savannas constitute the largest biome on the African continent. Savanna systems are characterised by the coexistence of C4 grasses in the understorey and trees or shrubs in the overstorey. This balance is maintained by ...
Vaz de Sousa, Damian(University of Pretoria, 2022)
Background: Polyploidy is a major factor in the adaptation and speciation of many plant lineages. Many evolutionary factors may contribute to autopolyploid frequency within plant populations, including rates of new polyploid ...
Natural areas are under threat due to land transformation, placing additional pressure on existing protected areas and emphasizing the need for more conserved areas. However, effective conservation planning requires ...
Mazibuko, Nompilo(University of Pretoria, 2022-09)
Dispersal is a key lifecycle event and is the means through which species spread geographically, across both fine and broad scales. Despite their ecological importance, dispersal events have proven challenging to quantify ...
Armfield, Taryn Jean(University of Pretoria, 2022)
The marama bean, encompassing both Tylosema esculentum ((Burch.) A.Schreib.) and Tylosema fassoglense ((Kotschy ex Schweinf.) Torre & Hillc.), has been identified as an orphan crop of southern Africa with a great potential ...
Biodiversity forms the basis of ecosystem functioning, which forms the foundation of ecosystem services. Quantifying diversity patterns and its drivers is needed to effectively conserve and maintain ecosystems. Diversity ...
Domingo, Leshaye Cynthia Theresia(University of Pretoria, 2022)
Background: With high annual infection rates and rapidly increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Neisseria gonorrhoea has become a major global public health concern, especially because delayed treatment often results ...
Ethnopharmacological relevance: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is a major global concern of an ever-growing population. The daily rate of infectious STDs increases by an estimate of one million infections. The ...
Anthesis and pollination are precisely timed events, which change with the surrounding environment depending on light, temperature, and humidity. Plants and pollinators may exhibit mismatched behaviors as a result of ...
Managa, Lavhelesani Rodney(University of Pretoria, 2022-06)
Moringa oleifera Lam. is an important plant species with various uses and applications, being cultivated across the world, with most of the production in Africa and Asia. Among other uses, moringa tree is useful for human ...
Maize(Zea mays L.) is a major crop grown all over the world, and it is a staple in the diets of millions of people, particularly in Africa. Fusarium and Aspergillus fungal species are reported to be associated with maize ...
Two main hypotheses have been accepted as the potential cause of eczema. The inside-out hypothesis states that eczema is caused by an immunological defect involving the overproduction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), ...
Contaminated fresh produce has increasingly been implicated in foodborne disease outbreaks with antimicrobial resistance reported as a major emerging health threat. This study aimed to determine the microbiological quality ...
Langenhoven, Brigitte(University of Pretoria, 2022-03)
Exserohilum turcicum is a foliar pathogen that causes the widespread and damaging
disease, northern leaf blight (NLB), in both sorghum and maize. Even though E.
turcicum is an economically important pathogen, limited ...
Maphutha , Jacqueline(University of Pretoria, 2022)
Eleven plants were selected based on their phytochemical constituents, ethnobotanical usage and biological activity resulting in thirty-three plant extracts prepared using ethanol, dichloromethane and water. The plant ...
Dembetembe, Tanyaradzwa Tiandra(University of Pretoria, 2021)
Gonorrhoea, caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is one of the most problematic sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the world as it negatively affects people’s health and livelihoods. Antibiotic resistance of N. gonorrhoeae ...
Lambrechts, Isa Anina(University of Pretoria, 2022)
The World Health Organization has raised concerns of antibiotic resistance threatening the global health care system and economy. Antibiotic resistance results from quorum sensing mechanisms that allow bacterial species ...