FABI

FABI Best Research Fellow 2025! 🎓🏆🧑🏽‍🔬 Grateful for the support from colleagues and collaborators at FABI and globally - I share this award with all of you! Excited to keep pushing impactful research forward! @Fabiteam1 @UPTuks @UPnasagric

#NASExcellence: Congratulations to Professors Dave Berger, Patricia Forbes and Emma Steenkamp from @UPnasagric at @UPTuks who received UP Exceptional Achievers Awards for 2025 tonight. up.ac.za/academic-achie… #ProudlyUP #maketodaymatter

Prof Michael Wingfield, founding director of @Fabiteam1, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences for 40+ years of pioneering work in global forest science. A proud moment for South African research! Read more: ow.ly/ePQX50X7GhR #UniversityOfPretoria #ProudlyUP

Prof Sanushka Naidoo (UP Biochemistry, Genetics & Microbiology) has won a She is Forestry Award for her resounding contribution to forestry science. Her research builds tree resilience against pests, pathogens & climate change. Read: ow.ly/bZpL50WPTbS #UniversityOfPretoria

🌱 Management strategies include planting resistant species like Pinus patula. Early detection and understanding its lifecycle are key to reducing the damage caused by this globally significant pine pathogen. #FABI #ForestResearch

🧬 D. septosporum is a hemibiotrophic, heterothallic fungus—meaning it can switch lifestyles and requires two mating types for sexual reproduction (though this stage hasn’t been seen in the Southern Hemisphere).

🌲 FABI Friday Feature This week we’re highlighting Dothistroma needle blight, a destructive disease of Pinus species caused by the fungus Dothistroma septosporum. First reported in SA in 1965, it continues to challenge pine forestry. #FABIFriday #TreeHealth

🌲 First recorded in sketches as far back as 1896, this moth continues to remind us why entomological research and pest management remain key to forestry health. #Forestry #TreePests #SouthAfrica #FABI

📍 Found in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga & Western Cape. Though natural enemies exist, infestations sometimes require chemical control to protect pine plantations.

🪲 FABI Friday Feature Meet Nudaurelia clarki – the Pine Emperor Moth. Native to southern Africa, this moth is both beautiful and destructive. Its larvae feed gregariously on pine needles, causing severe defoliation. #FABIFriday #Entomology

📣 Understanding A. psidii is key to managing its spread. Follow us for more on the science behind tree pathogens! #MyrtleRust #PlantPathology #Forestry #Mycology #FABI #FungalFriday

🌍 First reported in SA in 2013, it has now been found in 7 provinces, affecting both native and commercial Myrtaceae species.

🌿 FABI Friday Feature This week we spotlight Austropuccinia psidii – the rust fungus behind Myrtle Rust, a serious threat to Myrtaceae species. #FABIFriday

Our paper is out! 🧫 #Pseudopithomyces toxicarius was identified - causal agent of facial eczema in 🐄 🌍 📊 Several other species & known #mycotoxin producers were also identified 🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.100… @mycobiomics @Fabiteam1