Recently added

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Research Articles (Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)): Recent submissions

  • A diverse range of Phytophthora species from botanical gardens in South Africa, including the novel Clade 5 species, Phytophthora mammiformis sp. nov. 
    Paap, Trudy; Balocchi, Felipe; Burgess, Treena I.; Bose, Tanay; Wingfield, Michael J. (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2024-06)
    The genus Phytophthora contains many destructive and globally important plant pathogens. In the last decade, targeted sampling efforts have resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of known species, as well as a ...
  • Climate, host and geography shape insect and fungal communities of trees 
    Franic, Iva; Allan, Eric; Prospero, Simone; Adamson, Kalev; Attorre, Fabio; Auger‑Rozenberg, Marie‑Anne; Augustin, Sylvie; Avtzis, Dimitrios; Baert, Wim; Barta, Marek; Bauters, Kenneth; Bellahirech, Amani; Boron, Piotr; Braganca, Helena; Brestovanská, Tereza; Brurberg, May Bente; Burgess, Treena; Burokiene, Daiva; Cleary, Michelle; Corley, Juan C.; Coyle, David R .; Csoka, Gyorgy; Cerny, Karel; Davydenko, Kateryna; De Groot, Maarten; Diez, Julio J.; Lehtijärvi, H. Tugba Dogmus; Drenkhan, Rein; Edwards, Jacqueline; Elsafy, Mohammed; Eotvos, Csaba Bela; Falko, Roman; Fan, Jianting; Feddern, Nina; Fürjes‑Mikó, Ágnes; Gossner, Martin M.; Grad, Bartłomiej; Hartmann, Martin; Havrdova, Ludmila; Horakova, Miriam Kadasi; Hrabetova, Marketa; Justesen, Mathias Just; Kacprzyk, Magdalena; Kenis, Marc; Kirichenko, Natalia; Kovac, Marta; Kramarets, Volodymyr; Lackovic, Nikola; Lantschner, M. Victoria; Lazarevic, Jelena; Leskiv, Marianna; Li, Hongmei; Madsen, Corrie Lynne; Malumphy, Chris; Matošević, Dinka; Matsiakh, Iryna; May, Tom W.; Mefert, Johan; Migliorini, Duccio; Nikolov, Christo; O’Hanlon, Richard; Oskay, Funda; Paap, Trudy; Parpan, Taras; Piskur, Barbara; Ravn, Hans P eter; Richard, John; Ronse, Anne; Roques, Alain; Rufner, Beat; Santini, Alberto; Sivickis, Karolis; Soliani, Carolina; Talgø, Venche; Tomoshevich, Maria; Uimari, Anne; Ulyshen, Michael; Vettraino, Anna Maria; Villari, Caterina; Wang, Yongjun; Witzell, Johanna; Zlatković, Milica; Eschen, René (Nature Research, 2023-07)
    Non-native pests, climate change, and their interactions are likely to alter relationships between trees and tree-associated organisms with consequences for forest health. To understand and predict such changes, factors ...
  • Species diversity in Pseudocercospora 
    Groenewald, Johannes Zacharias; Chen, Y.Y.; Zhang, Y.; Roux, Jolanda; Shin, H.-D.; Shivas, R.G.; Summerell, B.A.; Braun, U.; Alfenas, A.C.; Ujat, A.H.; Nakashima, C.; Crous, Pedro W. (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2024-06)
    Species of Pseudocercospora are commonly associated with leaf and fruit spots on diverse plant hosts in sub-tropical and tropical regions. Pseudocercospora spp. have mycosphaerella-like sexual morphs, but represent ...
  • New and Interesting Fungi. 7. 
    Visagie, Cobus M.; Yilmaz, Neriman; Allison, Jeremy D.; Barreto, R.W.; Boekhout, Teun; Boers, J.; Delgado, M.A.; Dewing, Claudette; Fitza, Katrin N.E.; Furtado, E.C.A.; Gaya, E.; Hill, R.; Hobden, A.; Hu, D.M.; Hülsewig, T.; Khonsanit, A.; Luangsa-ard, J.J.; Mthembu, Alice; Pereira, C.M.; Price, Jenna-Lee; Pringle, A.; Qikani, Nombulelo; Sandoval-Denis, M.; Schumacher, R.K.; Seifert, K.A.; Slippers, Bernard; Tennakoon, D.S.; Thanakitpipattana, D.; Van Vuuren, Nicole Innike; Groenewald, Johannes Zacharias; Crous, Pedro W. (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2024-06)
    Two new genera, 17 new species, two epitypes, and six interesting new host and / or geographical records are introduced in this study. New genera include: Cadophorella (based on Cadophorella faginea) and Neosatchmopsis ...
  • Botryosphaeriaceae partially overlap on asymptomatic and symptomatic tissues of Anacardiaceae in agroecosystems and conservation areas in northern South Africa 
    Slippers, Bernard; Ramabulana, Elelwani; Coetzee, Martin Petrus Albertus (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2024-06)
    Members of the Botryosphaeriaceae are well-known endophytes and stress-related pathogens. We recently characterised the diversity of Botryosphaeriaceae in healthy tissues of three tree species in the Anacardiaceae, namely ...
  • A new Paecilomyces from wooden utility poles in South Africa 
    Visagie, Cobus M.; Cruywagen, Elsie M.; Duong, Tuan A. (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2023-06)
    During a survey of fungi on electricity utility poles in South Africa, a diverse range of fungi were discovered. Paecilomyces was frequently isolated, with five species identified using ITS and β-tubulin (BenA) sequences. ...
  • A new genus and species of Cryphonectriaceae causing stem cankers on plantation eucalypts in South Africa 
    Suzuki, Hiroyuki; Marincowitz, Seonju; Roux, Jolanda; Paap, Trudy; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Wingfield, Michael J. (Wiley, 2024-06)
    Fungi in the Cryphonectriaceae are important canker pathogens of woody shrubs and trees in the Melastomataceae and Myrtaceae (Myrtales). During 2021 disease surveys in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) plantations, a serious ...
  • Making genome editing a success story in Africa 
    Abkallo, Hussein M.; Arbuthnot, Patrick; Auer, Thomas O.; Berger, David Kenneth; Burger, Johan; Chakauya, Ereck; Concordet, Jean-Paul; Diabate, Abdoulaye; Di Donato, Vincenzo; Groenewald, Jan-Hendrik; Guindo, Amadou; Koekemoer, Lizette L.; Nazare, Florence; Nolan, Tony; Okumu, Fredros; Orefuwa, Emma; Paemka, Lily; Prieto-Godino, Lucia; Runo, Steven; Sadler, Marie; Tesfaye, Kassahun; Tripathi, Leena; Wondji, Charles (Nature Research, 2024-04)
    No abstract available.
  • First report of Citrus concave gum-associated virus (CCGaV) on apple (Malus spp.) in South Africa 
    Pietersen, Gerhard; Morgan, Seamus W.; Read, David Alan (Springer, 2024)
    No abstract available.
  • Haplogenome assembly reveals structural variation in Eucalyptus interspecific hybrids 
    Lötter, Anneri; Duong, Tuan A.; Candotti, Julia; Mizrachi, Eshchar; Wegrzyn, Jill; Myburg, Alexander A. (Oxford University Press, 2023-08)
    BACKGROUND De novo phased (haplo)genome assembly using long-read DNA sequencing data has improved the detection and characterization of structural variants (SVs) in plant and animal genomes. Able to span across haplotypes, ...
  • The unique homothallic mating-type loci of the fungal tree pathogens Chrysoporthe syzygiicola and Chrysoporthe zambiensis from Africa 
    Van der Merwe, Nicolaas Albertus (Albie); Phakalatsane, Tshiamo; Wilken, Pieter Markus (MDPI, 2023-05-26)
    Chrysoporthe syzygiicola and C. zambiensis are ascomycete tree pathogens first described from Zambia, causing stem canker on Syzygium guineense and Eucalyptus grandis, respectively. The taxonomic descriptions of these ...
  • An in silico approach to identifying TF binding sites : analysis of the regulatory regions of BUSCO genes from fungal species in the Ceratocystidaceae family 
    Maseko, Nomaswazi Nosipho; Steenkamp, Emma Theodora; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Wilken, Pieter Markus (MDPI, 2023-03-31)
    Transcriptional regulation controls gene expression through regulatory promoter regions that contain conserved sequence motifs. These motifs, also known as regulatory elements, are critically important to expression, ...
  • Two distinct non-ribosomal peptide synthetase-independent siderophore synthetase gene clusters identified in Armillaria and other species in the Physalacriaceae 
    Mensah, Deborah L. Narh; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Coetzee, Martin Petrus Albertus (Oxford University Press, 2023)
    Siderophores are important for ferric iron solubilization, sequestration, transportation, and storage, especially under iron-limiting conditions such as aerobic conditions at high pH. Siderophores are mainly produced by ...
  • Population genomic analyses suggest recent dispersal events of the pathogen Cercospora zeina into East and Southern African maize cropping systems 
    Welgemoed, Tanya; Duong, Tuan A.; Barnes, Irene; Stukenbrock, Eva H.; Berger, David Kenneth (Oxford University Press, 2023)
    A serious factor hampering global maize production is gray leaf spot disease. Cercospora zeina is one of the causative pathogens, but population genomics analysis of C. zeina is lacking. We conducted whole-genome Illumina ...
  • Microfungi associated with dying Euphorbia mauritanica in South Africa and their relative pathogenicity 
    Marincowitz, Seonju; Pham, N.Q.; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Roets, F.; Wingfield, Michael J. (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2023-12)
    Euphorbia mauritanica is a succulent shrub that is indigenous to South Africa and widely distributed throughout the country. Dying plants have been observed in their natural habitat in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces ...
  • A novel species of Microsphaeropsis causing cankers on rafnia amplexicaulis in South Africa 
    Paap, Trudy; Marincowitz, Seonju; Pham, N.Q.; Roets, F.; Basson, R.J.; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Oberlander, K.C. (Kenneth); Wingfield, Michael J. (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2023-12)
    Cankers leading to branch, stem and plant death were observed on the South African endemic Rafnia amplexicaulis (Fabaceae) in the Cederberg Wilderness Area, South Africa, during September 2021. Conidiomatal pycnidia were ...
  • Convergent evolution unites the population genetics of protea-associated ophiostomatoid fungi 
    Aylward, Janneke; Ngubane, Nombuso P.; Dreyer, Leanne I.; Oberlander, K.C. (Kenneth); Wingfield, Michael J.; Roets, Francois (Elsevier, 2023-06)
    Knoxdaviesia and Sporothrix species occupy the flower heads of some Protea plants in southern Africa. Knoxdaviesia species display exceptional genetic diversity within the Core Cape Subregion (CCR) and are readily dispersed ...
  • Unseen fungal biodiversity and complex inter- organismal interactions in Protea flower heads 
    Aylward, Janneke; Roets, Francois; Dreyer, Leanne I.; Wingfield, Michael J. (Elsevier, 2023-09)
    A unique microbiome occurs within the flower heads of various Protea species endemic to Africa. These include two lineages of ophiostomatoid fungi, Knoxdaviesia (Microascales) and Sporothrix (Ophiostomatales), that have ...
  • Opportunities for diversified usage of metabarcoding data for fungal biogeography through increased metadata quality 
    Harris, Mathew Andrew; Slippers, Bernard; Kemler, Martin; Greve, Michelle (Elsevier, 2023-12)
    The widely adopted use of metabarcoding techniques and the ability to sequence microbial communities directly from environmental samples have advanced the field of fungal ecology. The growth of publicly available big ...
  • Deterministic processes have limited impacts on foliar fungal endophyte communities along a savanna-forest successional gradient 
    Harris, Mathew Andrew; Kemler, Martin; Slippers, Bernard; Jamison-Daniels, Samantha-Leigh; Witfeld, Frederick; Botha, Monique; Begerow, Dominik; Brachmann, Andreas; Greve, Michelle (Elsevier, 2023-08)
    Patterns and drivers of succession provide insight into the mechanisms that govern community assembly, but remain poorly understood for microbial communities. We assess whether successional trends of trees are mirrored ...