Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)

Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)

 

FABI, the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, at the University of Pretoria, is a post-graduate research institute that was established in 1997, based on a recognition that the future of forestry and agriculture in South Africa will strongly depend on the incorporation of new and emerging technologies into these industries. Major opportunities for these industries have emerged in recent times, from the applications of biotechnology and bioinformatics, amongst many others. FABI scientists undertake goal-directed research, in partnership with major players in the forestry and agricultural sectors in South Africa and in so doing, promote both human capital and industrial development in the country.

Being based at the University of Pretoria provides FABI with the capacity to build future human resources in biotechnology, that are crucial to the future of forestry and agriculture in South Africa. It also enables collaboration and linkage with the majority of statutory bodies undertaking research in the plant and animal sciences. Additional value comes from training grants, participation of students in research programmes, and an enormous human and technological resource associated with this University.

Staff at the University of Pretoria linked to FABI have also had long-term associations with the fruit tree industry as well as with many other programmes linked to agricultural and forestry crops. Since its establishment, FABI has grown rapidly. FABI is made up of about 180 people including, approximately 15 academic staff, 100+ postgraduate (Hons, MSc, PhD) students, postdoctoral fellows, research visitors, and a small core of technical and support staff. Approximately 30 languages are spoken by members of the FABI Team, illustrating a remarkably multinational and multicultural group.

Visit the FABI website at : http://www.fabinet.up.ac.za.

FABI accommodates students from the Departments of Biochemistry, Chemistry , Genetics, Microbiology and Plant Pathology , Plant Production and Soil Science , Plant Science, and Zoology and Entomology.

Collections in this community

Recent Submissions

  • Pogue, Tania; Malod, Kevin; Weldon, Christopher William (Elsevier, 2025-02)
    Plant-derived phenylpropanoids are semiochemicals that are often highly attractive to Bactrocera (Diptera: Tephritidae) males. One of these semiochemicals, methyl eugenol (ME), is used in the male annihilation technique ...
  • Aguirre-Gil, O.J. (Oniel); Paredes-Espinosa, Richard; Egoávil-Jump, Giannfranco; Allison, Jeremy D. (Cambridge University Press, 2024-09)
    Management of phytosanitary and biosecurity risks associated with the Cerambycidae focuses on prevention and early detection. Semiochemical-baited traps are an important component of these management efforts. Cerambycid ...
  • Van Heerden, Alishia; Pham, Nam Q.; Wingfeld, Brenda D.; Wingfeld, Michael J.; Wilken, Pieter Markus (BMC, 2024-10)
    Elsinoë species are phytopathogenic fungi that cause serious scab diseases on economically important plants. The disease symptoms arise from the effects of a group of phytotoxins known as elsinochromes, produced via a ...
  • Basson, Renier Johannes; Roets, Francois; Wingfield, Michael J.; Aylward, Janneke (Entomological Society of Southern Africa, 2024)
    Widdringtonia is a genus of native southern African Cupressaceae trees comprising two species that occur in the mountains of the Western Cape province, South Africa. Widdringtonia cedarbergensis has a localised distribution and ...
  • Coutinho, Teresa A.; Van der Waals, Jacqueline Elise (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2024-11)
    Agriculture, an essential pillar of South Africa’s economy, has evolved through a century of scientific advancements. This Perspective highlights the significant research contributions to the improvement of citrus and ...
  • Tembo, Mathias; Mahlangu, Jabulile N.N.; Berger, David Kenneth; Chimutingiza, Hildah; Chikoti, Patrick C.; Prasanna, Boddupalli M.; Suresh, L.M.; Nsibo, David Livingstone (American Phytopathological Society, 2024-09)
    In March 2023, leaf spot symptoms characterized by ovoid, oblong lesions with a pale brown center and small and narrow linear lesions were observed in seed maize production fields in Mkushi District, Zambia. The symptoms ...
  • Bose, Tanay; Mahomed, T.G.; Mbatha, K.C.; Joubert, J.C.; Hammerbacher, Almuth (Wiley, 2024)
    Plant–microbe interactions significantly influence plant growth dynamics and adaptability. This study explores the impact of metabolites on microbial biodiversity in shoot tips and wood of Populus nigra under greenhouse ...
  • Pham, Nam Q.; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Barnes, Irene; Gazis, Romina; Wingfield, Michael J. (Wiley, 2024)
    The genus Elsinoe contains many aggressive pathogens of a wide range of plants, many of which are economically important. These fungal pathogens cause serious scab diseases affecting various plant parts, impacting plant ...
  • Solis, Myriam; Naidoo, Saloshnee; Wingfield, Michael J.; Joubert, J.C.; Hammerbacher, Almuth (Wiley, 2024)
    Leaf epicuticular waxes provide important anatomical and chemical defences against fungi that infect leaves. In this study we analysed the leaf wax composition of Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus urophylla hybrids with ...
  • Caballol, Maria; Serrado, Francesc; Barnes, Irene; Camarero, J. Julio; Valeriano, Cristina; Colangelo, Michele; Oliva, Jonas (Wiley, 2024-10)
    Predicting forest health at a regional level is challenging as forests are simultaneously attacked by multiple pathogens. Usually, the impacts of each pathogen are studied separately, however, interactions between them can ...
  • Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas); Rodriguez-R, Luis M.; Chuvochina, Maria; Palmer, Marike; Hugenholtz, Philip (Elsevier, 2024-11)
    Stable taxon names for Bacteria and Archaea are essential for capturing and documenting prokaryotic diversity. They are also crucial for scientific communication, effective accumulation of biological data related to the ...
  • Nsibo, David Livingstone; Barnes, Irene; Berger, David Kenneth (Frontiers Media, 2024-08)
    Maize is the most widely cultivated and major security crop in sub-Saharan Africa. Three foliar diseases threaten maize production on the continent, namely northern leaf blight, gray leaf spot, and southern corn leaf ...
  • Crous, Pedro W.; Osieck, E.R.; Shivas, R.G.; Tan, Y.P.; Bishop-Hurley, S.L.; Esteve- Raventos, F.; Larsson, E.; Luangsa-ard, J.J.; Pancorbo, F.; Balashov, S.; Baseia, I.G.; Boekhout, T.; Chandranayaka, S.; Cowan, Don A.; Cruz, R.H.S.F.; Czachura, P.; De la Pena-Lastra, S.; Dovana, F.; Drury, B.; Fell, J.; Flakus, A.; Fotedar, R.; Jurjevic, Z.; Kolecka, A.; Mack, J.; Maggs-Kölling, G.; Mahadevakumar, S.; Mateos, A.; Mongkolsamrit, S.; Noisripoom, W.; Plaza, M.; Overy, D.P.; Piątek, M.; Sandoval-Denis, M.; Vauras, J.; Wingfield, Michael J.; Abell, S.E.; Ahmadpour, A.; Akulov, A.; Alavi, F.; Alavi, Z.; Altes, A.; Alvarado, P.; Anand, G.; Ashtekar, N.; Assyov, B.; Banc-Prandi, G.; Barbosa, K.D.; Barreto, G.G.; Bellanger, J.-M.; Bezerra, J.L.; Bhat, D.J.; Bilański, P.; Bose, Tanay; Bozok, F.; Chaves, J.; Costa-Rezende, D.H.; Danteswari, C.; Darmostuk, V.; Delgado, G.; Denman, S.; Eichmeier, A.; Etayo, J.; Eyssartier, G.; Faulwetter, S.; Ganga, K.G.G.; Ghosta, Y.; Goh, J.; Gois, J.S.; Gramaje, D.; Granit, L.; Groenewald, M.; Gusmao, L.F.P.; Hammerbacher, Almuth; Heidarian, Z.; Hywel-Jones, N.; Jankowiak, R.; Kaliyaperumal, M.; Kaygusuz, O.; Kezo, K.; Khonsanit, A.; Kumar, S.; Kuo, C.H.; Læssoe, T.; Latha, K.P.D.; Loizides, M.; Luo, S.M.; Maciá-Vicente, J.G.; Manimohan, P.; Marbach, P.A.S.; Marinho, P.; Marney, T.S.; Marques, G.; Martín, M.P.; Miller, A.N.; Mondello, F.; Moreno, G.; Mufeeda, K.T.; Mun, H.Y.; Nau, T.; Nkomo, T.; Okrasinska, A.; Oliveira, J.P.A.F.; Oliveira, R.L.; Ortiz, D.A.; Pawłowska, J.; Perez-De-Gregorio, M.A.; Podile, A.R.; Portugal, A.; Privitera, N.; Rajeshkumar, K.C.; Rauf, I.; Rian, B.; Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A.; Rivas- Torres, G.F.; Rodriguez-Flakus, P.; Romero-Gordillo, M.; Saar, I.; Saba, M.; Santos, C.D.; Sarma, P.V.S.R.N.; Siquier, J.L.; Sleiman, S.; Spetik, M.; Sridhar, K.R.; Stryjak-Bogacka, M.; Szczepanska, k.; Taskın, H.; Tennakoon, D.S.; Thanakitpipattana, D.; Trovao, J.; Turkekul, I.; Van Iperen, A,L.; Van 't Hof, P.; Vasquez, G.; Visagie, C.M.; Wingfield, Michael J.; Wong, P.T.W.; Yang, W.X.; Yarar, M.; Yarden, O.; Yilmaz, Neriman; Zhang, N.; Zhu, Y.N.; Groenewald, J.Z. (Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, 2023-06-29)
    Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Australia, Aschersonia mackerrasiae on whitefly, Cladosporium corticola on bark of Melaleuca quinquenervia, Penicillium nudgee ...
  • Crous, Pedro W.; Costa, M.M.; Kandemir, H.; Vermaas, M.; Vu, D.; Zhao, L.; Arumugam, E.; Flakus, A.; Jurjevic, Z.; Kaliyaperumal, M.; Mahadevakumar, S.; Murugadoss, R.; Shivas, R.G.; Tan, Y.P.; Wingfield, Michael J.; Abell, S.E.; Marney, T.S.; Danteswari, C.; Darmostuk, V.; Denchev, C.M.; Denchev, T.T.; Etayo, J.; Gene, J.; Gunaseelan, S.; Hubka, V.; Illescas, T.; Jansen, G.M.; Kezo, K.; Kumar, S.; Larsson, E.; Mufeeda, K.T.; Piątek, M.; Rodriguez-Flakus, P.; Sarma, P.V.S.R.N.; Stryjak-Bogacka, M.; Torres-Garcia, D.; Vauras, J.; Acal, D.A.; Akulov, A.; Alhudaib, K.; Asif, M.; Balashov, S.; Baral, H.O.; Baturo-Ciesniewska, A.; Begerow, D.; Beja-Pereira, A.; Bianchinotti, M.V.; Bilanski, P.; Chandranayaka, S.; Chellappan, N.; Cowan, Don A.; Custodio, F.A.; Czachura, P.; Delgado, G.; De Silva, N.I.; Dijksterhuis, J.; Duenas, M.; Eisvand, P.; Fachada, V.; Fournier, J.; Fritsche, Y.; Fuljer, F.; Ganga, KG.G.; Guerra, M.P.; Hansen, K.; Hywel-Jones, N.; Ismail, A.M.; Jacobs, C.R.; Jankowiak, R.; Karich, A.; Kemler, M.; Kisło, K.; Klofac, W.; Krisai-Greilhuber, I.; Latha, K.P.D.; Lebeuf, R.; Lopes, M.E.; Lumyong, S.; Macia-Vicente, J.G.; Maggs-Kolling, G.; Magista, D.; Manimohan, P.; Martín, M.P.; Mazur, E.; Mehrabi-Koushki, M.; Miller, A.N.; Mombert, A.; Ossowska, E.A.; Patejuk, K.; Pereira, O.L.; Piskorski, S.; Plaza, M.; Podile, A.R.; Polhorsky, A.; Pusz, W.; Raza M.; Ruszkiewicz-Michalska, M.; Saba, M.; Sanchez, R.M.; Singh, R.; Sliwa, L.; Smith, M.E.; Stefenon, V.M.; Strasiftakova, D.; Suwannarach, N.; Szczepańska, K.; Telleria, M.T.; Tennakoon, D.S.; Thines, M.; Thorn, R.G.; Urbaniak, J.; Van der Vegte, M.; Vasan, V.; Vila-Vicosa, C.; Voglmayr, H.; Wrzosek, M.; Zappelini, J.; Groenewald, J.Z. (Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, 2023-12-30)
    Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Argentina, Neocamarosporium halophilum in leaf spots of Atriplex undulata. Australia, Aschersonia merianiae on scale insect ...
  • Cupellini, Lorenzo; Gwizdala, Michal; Kruger, T.P.J. (Tjaart) (American Chemical Society, 2024-09)
    Phycobilisomes (PBs) are giant antenna supercomplexes of cyanobacteria that use phycobilin pigments to capture sunlight and transfer the collected energy to membrane-bound photosystems. In the PB core, phycobilins are bound ...
  • Coutinho, Teresa A.; Carstensen, Gabrielle Dioneé; Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas); Chen, ShuaiFei; Tarigan, Marthin; Wingfield, Michael J. (Springer, 2024)
    Ralstonia solanacearum and R. pseudosolanacearum are well-known bacterial plant pathogens that cause significant losses to both ornamental and agricultural plants. It has been suggested that they are not the primary cause ...
  • Danki, Vinolia Nomhle; Steenkamp, Emma Theodora; De Vos, Lieschen; Swalarsk-Parry, Benedicta S.; Dewing, Claudette; Fru, Felix Fon; Wilken, Pieter Markus; Mchunu, Nokuthula P.; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Wingfield, Michael J.; Van der Nest, Magrieta Aletta (Springer, 2024)
    The African fungus Ceratocystis albifundus does not cause disease symptoms on its wide range of native woody hosts. However, on non-native Acacia mearnsii and orchard-grown Protea cynaroides, it represents an economically ...
  • Ceriani, Callin; Wingfield, Michael J.; Fru, Felix Fon; Van Wyk, S.; Rodas, Carlos A.; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Steenkamp, Emma Theodora (Wiley, 2024-06)
    Fusarium circinatum is an important fungal pathogen of Pinus species utilized in commercial forestry worldwide. In Colombia, it was first found on nursery plants and later in plantations associated with basal cankers on ...
  • Roberts, Ronel; Robbertse, Nicola; Thompson, Genevieve D.; Read, David Alan (Springer, 2024-06)
    South Africa is the largest producer of macadamias in the world, producing an estimated 61,288 tons nut-in-shell in 2022. In order to ensure the sustainability of the industry, it is important that research focuses on the ...
  • Twiddy, Dee Ingrid; Fouché, Arista; Akinsanmi, Olufemi A.; Fourie, Gerda (Springer, 2024-07)
    Fungal diseases of macadamia fruit in South Africa have the potential to cause notable economic damage in this rapidly growing industry. To improve our understanding of the species involved in husk rot in macadamia orchards, ...

View more