MESSAGE FROMTHE DIREnOR

This Saturday morrunq. as I write this mtroductory note torthehrst Issue ofTree Protect ion News. a group ofTPCP stalfand students are working in ti le la l) extracting nematodesfrom cultures. Most everyone reading this newsletter w il(know that the TPCP t C<l111 has the task of producingsufficient numbers of the parasrtic Nematode Oclildcnussiritid/cold 10 «iocurate up 10 30 000 t ree s lor Sirclf centro:Ihisyear, Wh ile the grollp hashad some yearsotexocncuce1M producing t his bio logical con tro l agent. none of us couldpossibly haveantic ipated theenormity of the operation , Forthose that are interested. mere details 3fC providedelsewhere III th is document. Suffice to say th at this nasbeen a huge cttcrt on th e part of many. but also a verysuccessful one, Nematodes have been produced in morethan sll ff icient nu mbers. desp ite load shedding and otherunponderables. Wil l!e there have been tensions and someother key research suppo rt cttons have needed to be setaside, I t hink that it IS fair to say t hat there has been a greatteam spi rit. One migh t even consider this to be an extremeversion of a team building exerc ise. although I was warnedth is wee k that I should not ta kethis idea too tar!

It is not possible to avoid ment ion of the nematode rear ingand extract ion operation up f ront in this newsletter. becauseIt has penet rated so many aspects of our lives. Yet It is alsounpo rteot to remember t hat rearing nematodes is only onecom ponent of a m uch larger operation, which includes staffof forestry companies. cont ractors and others. Thenematodes must be inoculated into trees requiring a hugeetten til itself. And that sten can only begin alter trees (all 30000 of them) have been pre-selected for Inoculation. Thenext step after inoculation (other than hopmq for superbresu lts) is to trap emerg,ng S" ex wasps later in t he year andto evaluate the success ot t he process. In all.

CONTENTSFrom the Director's Desk

TPCPiCTHB

Diagnostic Climc 2001 aWelcome to the TPCP and CTHB ,Secret~ 01cooperation betvreen

Tfees &. F~ngi reve"led •Gemofm' Sf!Q~ence of

P~nlot'~ An~n"l'~ •Pe~t Alert •Gfeen mOrlster or E~caly pts toLeptoc vt>e I~ spre"dtn\l "Sirexl ccnt rct Nematodes by the

mi lltOO~ tzSAI F Symposium tzTh" umastOCOf is mO<1I10. ing Irial uWho's Who In t he TPCP'/ tsConferences anended by

TPCP:CTHB members "

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con trolling Si(('K IS a huge pnonty for a team thatgoes far beyond t hewalls of FABI. We approachth is w ith enthusiasm and hope that newnematode strains. addi tional biologic al controlagents. exte nded monitoring and refinedforestr y operations will allow us to reduce t heimpact of the wasp on our plantaticns.

In 1997. t il e idea of moving the TPCP. then in it'seig hth year ot existence. to t he University ofPretoria was raised. This was in effec t th e startof FABI. now ten years old. and already havillg avery Significant national and mtcmatronattco tpnnt. It IShurd to Imagine tnat so much hashappened du ring th is decade that has passedincredibly rapidly. This. our tent h anni versaryyear will be an cxci\l ng one for FABI and t heTPCP. Convenient ly. the FABl l enth Anniversaryoccurs concurre nt ly With t he tOO' Anniversaryof t he UniverSity of Pretoria. The upshot is thatmany of th e UniverSity celebrations provide anopportomty to celebrate FABl s smalle r; yet verysign itlcant positio n In research and educat ion.This year. our TPCP annual meeting Wi ll be heldalongs ide a FABI colloqu ium to celebrate ourAnniversary. By def inition, this w ill nave a veryobvious tocus on mailers pertanunq to treehealth. We hope that mllny TPCP members andfr iends wi ll attend th e event that Will be held onhe 13 and 14-'M ay.

A little later in t he year. July to be exact. SouthAfrica Will hast the International Conqress 01Entomology (tCE), This major meeting. whichoccurs once every hve years. w ill be held at t heDurban Inte rnat ional Cong ress Cent re andthere are already registrati ons from delegatesfrom 99 (we hope for 100) countr ies. From aTPCP porspoct.vc . this meeting provides a greatoppo rtun ity to dra w t og et her f o res tentomolog ists from around th e world. In orderto cap italise on 1his opportunity. we areorgan ising an IUFRO Division 7.3 (ForestInsects), symposium and t ield excursion. Thefirst two days of t hisevent Wi l l be held in Pretoriaand thiswill be followed by th reedays in the fieldexanuninq and drscussmq insect pest anddisease prob lems. There has been greatenth us iasm for this mcetmq. which rapidlybec a m e f ull y su bscr i bed by tcr e s tentomolog ists from aroun d t he world. It isalready clear th at tt us event will add substan tial

impetus to t he TPCP entomology research andcollaboration. Jus t a few weeks ago, the newTPCP insect rearing and quarant ine facil ity wascompleted on t he Uruverstty of Pretoriaexperimental farm. Many staft members ofTPCP member companies will neve seen tfusfac, lity when visi tlllg the pitch canker scrcerunqprogramm e on the farm. The new faCility Willprovide the gro up wrth the abil ity to rear insectbio logical con tro l agents in a man ner th at waspreViously not possible. New genotypes ofIbalia Icucospoidcs and other Strex biologicalcon tro l agen ts Will move th rough tnose t acnrtrespr ior to t heir release III the field. Further. weexpect to be able to bring biolog ical controlagents of Thaumifstocons pcrigrinus andLepto(:ybc invasa th rough t his facil ity and in t t usway, keep Sout h Atri can Forestry secure fromdam age due to these and othe r th reateningpests,

If you are not already t ired. trom readi ng at theman y TPCP activit ies already operational Of

planned tor this year. I need to share iust onemore snippet of important news. Thi s is that Dr.Stefan Ncscr, certain ly one ot Sout h Afr ica'smost important biolog ical con trol experts hasbeen appoin ted by t he University of Preto ria,Stefan has a lifetime at cxpcncnce in workmqWith biolog ical con trol agents and he hassuppor ted the TPCP incredibly strongly dllr lllgthe past year. Just as an examp le, Ius advice inbui ldi ng t he new insect rearing facility has beeninvaluable. And he is already providing us Withsuperb support that w ill lead to our gainingaccess to important bictcqrcat control agentsfor a wi de array of pests. not least ct which isSir~x.

We nave all exitin g and busy year ahead. In facta good part is already behind us. I say t histh in klllg that. If one accep ts that December ISrelat ively qu iet (other than for those rcannqnema todes). one t hird of the year has alreadypast. There is much to do on the research,extension and educa tion fronts. The three mainmuars of the TPCP operation. Our success inthese ettcrts rel ics strong ly on superb supportand long term fri end ships with forest manaqersand field foresters that make the greater TPCPteam.

'P(PfOHIOil neslie (Iinie 2007This past year has been another record year fo rthe enure. wi th more samples being receivedthan ever before.

The clinic received a total number of 2913samp les from January unt il t he- en d otNovember. with almosl 800 01 the samp lesreceived d l lring Oct ober and November alone.Soi l. seed and Pet ri dish samples tor FUSMiumscreening comprised most of the aDO samplesreceived. No sam p les we re received In

December.

Seed samples. received tor Fusari um screen ingcomprised 6.1 %. whi le Petri dish samples. torthe con fi rma tion of Fusarium ctrcinatum. madeup26%ol lhe to tal samples.

Samples trom non-forestry and indigenoustrees as well as water samples are categonzedunder "other " and t hese comprised 1 % 01received samples.

Pmc samp les comprised 54 % ot the toternumber 01samples received. wi th the majorityof t hese samples received to r Ftisariumscreening. EUCil lyptus samples ma de up 5 %and Acacia meamsil (Wattle) samples onlycom pr ised abo ut 0.5 % of t he total amount ofsamples.

The amount 01 50,1 samples received durl!1g th isperiod necessitated the move 10 a new category.Wit h soli samples comprismq 7.4 % of allsamples recei ved .

.­.-._.-.~.­.-­.-

Number o f sam ples received Jan ua ry - No vember 2007

General c lin ic news

Each year new st udent mem bers aredrat ted Intothe cl inic as part of the tra ining they receivedunnq their respect ivedegrees.

New members !o< 2008 ~,e 1.1.1.•. Donal" Chungu, aMSC student rrom Za mbia. DI,, 'e r Begoude, a P hDslu"enl ko m Cameroo n, Gu,lIe.mo Pe,ez , a P hDslu" enl lrom Urug uay a n" S hua ile i Chen , a P hD stu etent110m China.

In March wewenl on ahekl tnp as part 01 diseaseclinic trainmg. to show membersd iseases m thef,eld as well as expos e t hem to forestryoperations in South Afr ica, This years trip wasto t he Mpumalanga province. spccrficalfv theSabie area. Part 01the tri p included an indoorinformation session on how to identi ty pestsand/or disease infestations wit h York Timbers.

Although many sites were lost to f ire we sHUmanaged to sec tile serious damage caused bybaboons. Armillaria infections as well as variousothe r d iseases and pests. mclud ing Cossidmot h mfestat ions at Loth air,

lontalling the IlInllIf you have any questions regiuding possible diseases or would like to send samples 10 the Clinic,please comect eithel treue Gleyling (izeltegrevlina@(ab j,uD,dC,zgl or Jo/dndd Roux(iSJ.famJul2JJx@fabi.JJp.iK.la)foradviceonthetypedndnumberofsdmples to send. It esso allows ustime toprepareproperly, especidllyifa pdrticuliJrly large sample is expected.

Remember to join our online tree heallh forum, Ireeheetthnet, for regular updates on pests anddiseases. fieldtrlp advertisements and a/her issues lela/ed to tree health. More information on peslsiJnd diseases as welt as sample submission is also available on our website attlItD:!lwWw.!dWneL.up.ilc..l.di.tPaJl-

WELCOME to the TPCP and CTHBWe welcome a number ol new people to the research toam s of the Trot' Protection Co-operativeProg ramme (lPCP) and DST!NRFCentre 01Excellence in Tree Healt h Biotechn ology (CTH B).

We hope t hat you w ill all be very happy 10 t he programmes and enjoy many grcat interactions with ourforestry and conservatio n coll eagues.

MS c. can didaleFRANCOIS BOSHOFF is it new member ofthe CTHB and w ill be work ing on the DiverSity01BrildyrhlzobiunJ species associa ted wit h therool nodules 01Mc lo/ooium spec ies,

I fus work WIll be done under the superv ision ofDr. Emma Steenk am p.

MSc. candidareL1 SA·DANEl LE DE WET has a SSe honoursdegree from the University 01Pretor ia and willbe working on the epidemiology of t he pinepuch canker fungus. Fusarium circmatum.under the superv is ion 01 Dr. Em m aSteenkarnu.

MSc. candida leSIMON M ARTIN completed his e s c honoursin til e TPCP and wil l be continuing with hisMS c deg ree, w o rki ng t ow ar d s anunderstan ding of th e molecular basis oimatlllgtype gene Interact ions in the pitch cankerfungus,Fusilrlum cncloe tum.

SSc. Honours cand ida leLUN GHILE MTHOM BENIDesc ri pt i on of B ll r k h oJd ef i a speciesncdulatinq H ypocalyptus and rts relat ives.

esc.Honours candidateJAN NAGEL wi ll be work i ng on t heBotryosphaer taceae. charact eri zing aoreviousry undoscnboc species 111 th e group,

SSc. n onours candidatesMElANIE VAN DER VAART will be wor king ona new bacterial disease of eucalypts In Sout hAmerica under the supervision of Prots. TeresaCcutmno and FanusVenter.

Senets of cooperationbetween Trees and

Fungi revealed

New s from t il e VIS (the Flanders Inst it ut e torBiotechnoloqyl- Gent . Belg ium

Trees and f ungi have constructed a closerela t ionsh ip w ith the passi ng of t he ages. Fung il ike to grow between t he root s at t rees and thearrangement is benefi cial to both partners. Theirdelicate balance is now being revealed for thevery f irst t imo. VIB researchers at GhentUni versit y in collaboration wit h an internat ionalteam have succeeded in unr,l Yc ling the geneticcode of the Laccariil biee/or fungus. This newInfo rmation IS crucia l to OUf know ledge. It w illlead to a better understand ing of how fung i helptrees to grow and how together t hey can bemd rcators of eli male ch ange.

Trees and fungi five happi ly togetherTrees are the lungs 01the eart h. They draw C02from the etmospbcrc and convert il into sugars.which then become a source of energy, In th eprocess t hey breat he 0 2 bac k in to t il eatmosphere.Tlus "green" prod uction of biomass. trees account for 90% of t he planet s land, basedmc mess • is a major muccnce on the health ofour planet.Trees grow better and l aster w hen cerlamspecial ized micro-organisms occur in their rootsystems. a il e such organism is the Laccdr iabicolorfungus. The symbiotic relationshi p of thefun g us an d t h e t ree root systems isadvant ageous to both. The fun gus facili tates theuptake of sca rce nutrients such as pho sphatesand n itrogen and protects the roots againstparasi tes In t he soil. In return they arc able todraw on the sugars in the roots , 85%of aUplantseno trees ere dependent on ::.ymbio tic precessesof t his kind for t heir growt h,

Genetic code of symbio tic fungus yields upfirs t secre tsAn international col laborat ive project was set l ipto cnarac tenzc the genome of th e sou fungu sL<JCCi/rid bieolor. VIS scientists Pierre Rcuze andYves Van de Peer. working Wit h France's

renowned INRA and JGI of the US, havesequenced the DNA of the fungus, They havebeen able to identify 20,000genes in the fungalgenome. Thei r analyses immediate ly resul ted innew know ledge, Incl ud ing t he di scovery of anarsenal of smal l proteins known as SSPs tsmausecreted proteins). which are only made atthose places where the fungus and the tree rootcome into contact. The genome study alsorevealed tha t t he fungus IS unable to breakdown pla nt cells but does affec t the celt wal ls ofpathog ens. This cou ld explain 110W t hese lungiprotect t heir symbiot ic part ners. Additi onallythe researchers identif ied genes which playarole in commun icating Wlt ll all the players in thesu noundmqs of the roots of the host t ree duri nggrowth.

Fungi: barometers of climate change?A better understan ding of the genetic secrets ofthis fungus docs not just hold out t he prospectof being able to optimize biomass production;resea rch into the delicate balance bet weenf ungus and tree me y also yield importantinformat ion that could be used to rncmtc rclimate cbanqe. Not only has t he geno me of theLilceMI<J tucolor been ful ly sequenced, t hat of t hepoplar. one of t he trees With which It forms arelntrcnsfup. is also f ull y known. This Will makeit posarble to t ind out exactly how tree andtungus cooperate and react to stress factorssuch as drought or extreme temperaturesresulting from climate cha nge. The hope existsthat the assembled Information w ill resu lt inconcrete applications in w hich trees and fung ican be deployed to t he benefit of both peop leand the environment. Yves Van de Peer leads thegroup 01 Btomtcnneucs and Evolu tionaryScnomic s in t he VIS Depart ment of PI,' I,tSystems Bio logy. uccot . unctercn rectron 01Di rkln ze. (more mto: w_w'!'!l~vib .beIRcsearchi E.Nl

Rescarctu: Departments-Departme nt t of t Piant + Systems+ B io log y/Yves + Van -t de -t Peer/)Contact: Joke Comijn (info@vib.be) ,

Cont.clln, tile JPtJI.1HI tTMI_.....-.._--ToO 0'2"031,," • f .. . "<20_ . • ,__...........-IDr ....._' ... _ .. .... _ .. _ .............._-_.•.-Uow:wo_~" ~

Genome sequenceof Pantoeaananatis

Pantoea <J oanalis is the causa l agent ofbacteria l b light and ore-back of you ngeucalypts in South Atr ica. This bacte riumcauses spots on the leaves which oftencoal esce to form larger lesions. Shoot tip d ie­back may also occ ur. The disease isparticularly problematic in nurse ries andmainly on E. grandis K E. nitens clo nes. P.ananatis not only attacks this host but has alsobeen found to cause a stal k disease of maizelocally an d cause a vari ety of other symptomson onions. melons. pineapple. rice and sudangrass in other parts of t he wo rld. It has alsobeen reported to cause infections in humans.Little is know n about t he ecology and biologyof the diseases caused by P. iJnanatis. In t hecase of eucalypts. we know it is a commonepi phyte on leaves, and that high relativehumidity and warm tem perat ures favou rdisease development .

Genom ics is the study of an organis m's entiregenome. When a genome is sequenced itprovides a wealth of information includ ing allt he proteins that the organism can make. Thishelps in the understandi ng of t he ecology.biology and pathology of a pat hogen. Throughf und ing obtained from the University ofPretoria and the NRF, the genome of a virulentstrain of P. anand/is from eucalypts wassequenced in May 2007. This is the f irst plantpathogen to be sequenced in Africa. Thegenome is 4.7 megabases in size and iscurrent ly in ninecontigs (pieces) which we arecurrentl y assembling. The geno me has beenput th rough a computer system whichannotates (identi fies) know n genes. Thegenome has been com pared to the sequencesof other genomes of bacteri a belonging to t hesame family. n numberct pathogenicity

factors have been identif ied and t heir funct ionis currentl y being investigated. We havediscovered several uni que elements in t hisgeno me which is going to provide a deeperunde rstanding of how P. anana/is functions asboth a pathogen of plants and humans. Thisresearch is being un dertaken in co ll aborationwith t he Scottish Crops Research Instit ute inthe UK.

Teresa Coufinho, Peter de Maier. Fanus Versfer

Pest AlertGlyCdSpis tmmbkxomooi - Red Gum Lerp PsyUid

GIYCi/spis o r i m o tec omb e i ( Ps ylltd ae ,Hemiptera). commonly reterred to as the redgum lerp psyllid. is a sap-sucking insec t thatfeeds on eucalypts. Nat ive to Aus tralia, th e redgum lerp psyllid h as been accidenta llyintroduced mto t he USA. MeXICO, cnne. nndBrazil. and It has recently been detected inUrl,guay.

Females of the red gum lerp psyllid lay between45 and 700 eggs. The eggs hatc h in 10 to 20daysand the nymphs Will pierce the plan t ti ssue withtheir stylet (mouthparts). fcedmg on the xylem.As the nymphs feed they secrete honeydew witt lwhich tncvconstruct a waxy cover (called a lerp)around themselves. ThIS cover IS whi tish andconica l in shape and shelters the insects unti lthe adu lt stage. In Au stral ia there are two 10 tourgenerations per year. The red gum tern psyll id isknown as an ilggressive insect th at spreadsrapidly. Sympto ms of It s feed ing includedropping of reeves and dry ing of leading shoots.Inf est ed leaves arc covor od Wit h w axy

scc rcucns and honeydew. on which soot ymou ld grows. Heavy infestations can totallydefol iate and kill tr ees. ElJcillyptlJs species differin their susceptib ili ty to attack by the red gumlorp psyllid. with E. camil ldulf'I1Sis an d E.lerctlcornis bell1g highly suscept ible and E.grilndl$ being mere tolerant.

Both chemical and biological control measureshave been used in an attempt to con trolinfes tations of tile red gum lerp ps ytlid. Contactinsecticides <Ire known to be mettecttve as thenymp hs are prot ect ed by thei r covers. Systemicinsect icides have been used w ith some success.but their usc is of limited value in plantationforestr y due to the high cos t. In t il e USA. natura!enemies of the red gum Iorp psyll id wereimported from Aust rali a. One of t hese, theoa-esmc wa sp Psy /l il ep har} IJ S »ntous(Hyme no ptera. Encyrt id ae ) h as becomeestabli shed in the USA as a biological con tra!agent for t hered gum lerp psyl li d.

The red gum lerp psylli d has 110t yet beendetected in South Africa. However. With the­increased movement of good s and peoplebetw een countries across the gtobe in the lastfew decades. and tne accompanymq ecciocntatincreaseol invasive species - be il weeds. fungalpathogens. insects, or oth er organisms - weneed to anticipate the arrival of new pestspecies. New pests In South America oftenappear in South Africa soon afterwards (andvice versa). Good examples are the Sirexw oodwa sp (Sm.'x noetil,o), the eucalypt snoutbeetle (Goniplcrus scutrlla tus) and the bronzebug Uneumeuocom perf'grmus). ThiSdoes nolnecessarily impl y movement fr om Sout hAmerica 10 South Atnca. but there are patternsrela tll1g 10 ti me ot in t rod uct ion t hat arcworrying. Thus. the red gum lerp psy lli d is aserious Eucalyptus pest t hat could appear inSoul h a tnca in th e ncar fut ure. The sooner newcosts or pathogens are detected . the soonercon trol measures can be Implemented. Ii yousec these sym ptoms on Eucalypt us. or anyunusual sym ptoms on your trees. please reportutc:

Brett Hurley

Phone: 012420 3938

Cell: 082 909 3211

Email: brett.hurley@fabl.up.ac.Ul

Figure showing psyll id and white lerp onEucalyptus leaf.

Green Monsterson

Eucalypts

In April reports were received of "big greenworms" (the size of a man's fi nger!) droppingIrom the tops of trees and devouring t he leavesof eucalypts in the Piet Retief area. Theselarvae were identif ied by Brett Hurley fromspecimens lodged in the Transvaal Museum.He confirmed that the larvae found eating theeuc a l y p ts are Pseudobuna ea i rius(Lepidoptera: Saturniidael. The adults arecommonly known as the Irian Emperor moth.These larvae have been recorded attackingeucalypts previously, as well as Black Wattle,pines and var ious indi genous t rees. It is known10 have two me-cvcree per year. The larvae cangrow up to Bcm long and are known to be verywell camouflaged. This is the stage t hat cancause severe damage by defoliation.

\

When fully grown, the larvae drop off me treesand pupa te in the soil. Emerging adults have awingspan of 10-12c01 and eve-spots' on thehind-wings. Natural enemies of this speciesare present. but in severe infestations,application of insecticide would be needed toreduce the damageto trees, Forthe insec ticideto have maximum effect. it should be appliedwhen the larvae are still small, i.e. before mostof the damage is already done. 01 interest, ist hat one of the cultu ral control methodssuggested for control of Saturniid larvae, inthe 70's and before, was to use pigs to eat thepupaawtncn they would detect and dig out theground. This control proved t o be veryeffective (and of course the pigs get fed, andcan make a good pork roast after they havefinished their job!!),

Leptocybe is spreading : Please hel p withmonitoring

In the previous issue of TPCP news wereported on the discovery of the Eucalyptusgall wasp, Leptocybe invilsa, in the Pretoriaarea. The discovery was made by Dr. StefanNeser in June 2007 during his reqular insectsurveys on Eucalyptus in the area, At thatpoint. t he wasp was only known from a fewtrees in a limited area, Follow-up surveys laterin 2007 by members of the TPCP have foundgalls on Eucalyptus plan ts a few kilometresaway. showing that the introduction must havehappened well before June 2007 and wasspread ing. Leptocybe has spread incrediblyfast th roughout other countries where it wasintroduced. This seems to indeed also be thecase in South Africa. Early in 2006 the first

infestations were noticed in the FABI nursery at

the University of Pretoria excenmentet farm,

some dis tance f rom the initial detection sites.Subsequently. infested plants have also been

found in more than one locat ion aroundJohannesburg, Heavily infes ted Eucalyptus

was also recenlly discovered in the Brits area

by members of t he Plant Protection ResearchInsti tute (PPRIl and even in the Upington area!

It is of utmost importance that every forester

assist to monitor the spread of the Eucalyptus

gall wasp. Th is is especially important for

NURSERY MANAGERS, Sending infested

plants to the field is one of the fastest routes to

spread this damaging wasp. Please note the

photographs with typical galls or swellings on

the midrib of the leaves, or young twigs. More

images are available on the TPCP website

(www,fabinet.up.ac.z.altpcp).

IMPORTANT: If you suspect t hat you have the

Eucalyptus gall wasp, please contact us 10

organize a visit to the site, or send a picture of

the observed symptoms. Do not package and

send these galls to us. The wasps are very small

and cou ld easi ly escape from packaged

material and spread to new areas.

SireK! control : Nematodes by the mill ion s toslop

There has been a buzz of activities during thepast nine mon ths in labs and incubators ofFABI, as the Sirek team has been preparingan d producin g oeteaenus sutctatcotenematodes - a biological control agentagainst the Sirek woodwasp. Oneof the majortasks we took on towards the end of 2007 wasto produce two billion of t hese nematodes forindustry mocutatrons in 2008.

These inoculations form a major part of theindustry's strategy to control the Sirekwoodwasp.

The nematode production has been anenormous and intense operation involving thewhole Sirek research team. as well as otherTPCP staff and students. This included fivef ull t ime technicians. part t ime assistance offour academic staff members, and ad hocassis tance from a further 5 staff members. 8underg raduate and more t han 20 postg raduate students.

The product ion of the nematodes started inthe second half of 2007, coinciding w ith thedissection of t 2000 wasps to assess industryinoculations. This busy start con tinuedthroughout December and the first quarter of2008. Only now is the inte nsity easing off aswe approach the final delivery in middle May.To date more than 17000 flask have beenprepared using more t han two tons of wheatand rice.

The work continued seven days a week, withf lask preparat ion, inoculation, nematodeculture trea tments and other work being doneduring the week, while harvesting was doneon Saturdays and Sundays , to be ready for thecourier consignments on Monday mornings.The good news is that despite autoclaves thatbroke, load shedding. tennis elbows and more.we will deliver the two billionth nematode bymid·ApriL We then aim on delivering a f urt herone bill ion nematodes based on revisedtargets tothe industry.

This success can only be ascribed to theincredible dedication and hard work of thegreat Sirek team of t he TPCP. Congratulationsto atlot vcul

SAIF Symposium

Pest awareness Symposium

The t hreat th at pests and diseases pose toplantati on forestry has. in recent years. becomemore evident. Serious insect pests likeSirl'-l andTneume st ocanv are causi ng widesp readdevastation. emphaSizing t he need lor c rossdiscipline and cross company effo rts to con tro l.not on ly these pests. but other pests anddiseases posing threats to our Ind ustr y.

Poret te cnve measures to be In place to deal Withpestsand pathogens.know ledge is needed.

To th is end t he South Af rican Inst itute ofForestry (SAIFj in conjunction with the TreeProtection Co-operative Programme (TPCP)held a Pest and Disease AwarenessSym posiumfor members 01t he industry. The workshop washeld at the Hilto n Hotel in Hilton at the end ofJanuary 2008.

Or. Andrew Morris chaired the workshop and Dr.Bernard Slippers (fpep) gave the first talk.focusing on pests In plantation forestry. HIStalkcentred around both native (e.g. Cossid mottuand Introduced (e.g. Sf/N . Lcptocyb/") pests inplantat ion forestry. Healso talked abou t variousmethods to prevent futu re Introductions as wellas measures used to control pest infestat ions.Grant Bareham (Sapp il spoke about the Cossidor Goat Moth, CoryphodemiJ I f/stis. glvmgresults obtained as part 01 a stu dy done on thec csstc motu infestations in the Lothair andCarol inaareas.

This nat ive pest has only been reported from

E. nlf/"ns so tar. and IS a good example of a nati vepest adaptmg to attack a commerCial plantat ionspecies.

Ryan Nadel (TPC P) gave his t a lk onTheumes rocor i s (J C' r C' g r inu s . i ntroduc in gmembers to this lit t le pest currently causingmajor damage th roughout Eucillyptus growingregions in South Af rica. He also gave an updateon the research he has been conduct ing onThaumastocoris as part of his PhD sh ,dy, whichincludes a survey covering most EucalyptusgrowlIlg reg ions in South Atnca . This survey isdon e Wit h the cooperati on of var ious membersof the forest ry Industry.

Phillip Croft was next to talk about probab ly the1110st important pest current ly causing rna/ordamage and losses in parts of South Africa - theSircr wood wasp. He talked about the biology ofthe insec t as well as t il e cttec t.venoss of thenernatooos used as tnocontror agent apamstSirez as well as other brocontr ot agen tsavailable. He also gave resul ts on V<lOOUS trapsset up by t he ind ustr y to monitor t he spread andoccurrence of Sirex and confirmed that stro« hasmoved as far north as the Vryheld area Withwasps being found in Kwambonambi andNqome.

The last two speakers were Mike Krugerttcpc roo nursery) and Irette Greyli ng (Tpe p )wrt h their talk s focusmq on the pitch cankerfungus. Fusarium crrcinetam and t heTPCP,CTHB Dtaonostrc Clinic. respectivel y.

Mike Kruger focused on Fusarium ctrctmtumfrom a nu rsery aspect. tatkmq about hyg ienemethods needed to control ttus devastatm qpat hogen as well as measure to emp loy fornursery certif ication ,

Ir et te Greyting gave a genera l overview ct thediagnostic clinic. what to look tor and how tosend samples to thecl in ic for identificati on.

The workshop concluded With all being Inagreemen t that only through cross d.sciplme.company and country cooperation wil l wc beable to effectively cont rol pest and d iseases.

Thaumastocoris

peregrius (TPCP)

monitoring trial

Provisional results from the Tneome stoconsperegrrus (T PCP ) m o nitor i ng tr ial

In an attempt to accu rate ly determ ine t hepopul a tion s ize and d y n arnic s ofThilUmastocoris peregrinus . a network of eightpermanent s<lmpling sites were establishedacross South Atnca as discussed 111 TreePr o t ect i o n N ew s (November 200 7).

The weekly mcmtonnq of these plantations. Incollaboration w ith TPCP members. hasSignificant ly improved our understand ing ofT: pC'rcgrmus, c ertain key environmentalvar iab les ha ve no w been provis ionallyIdenti fied as impact ing the populat ion growthof th is pest du ri l1g the reported time period(February 2007 until December 2007). We thu seagerly await the an atysrs of several meremon ths ot data to establish whether thesehighlig hted variables ccntmuc to play anImpacting rote III the estab lishment andpersistence of this pest. as ascerta ined i ll t hefi rst SIXmonths of this t naf.

The trial has been set up in collaboration withseveral industry members spannll1g th e majorEuciilypfu:; grow ing areas ot Sout h Afr ica.These include:

1. Gauteng: Pretor ia(Set up 19 February 2007)

2. Limpopo: Tzaneen(Set up 29 May 2007)

3. Mpumatanqa: Sab le(Set IIp 27 June 2007)

4. Northern KwaZulu·Nata l; Pret Retref(Set up 16 July 2007)

5. KwaZulu-Nat al Zululand:Kwambonambl (Set IIp 17 July 2007)

5. KwaZulu Natal Midlands:Pietermantzbu rg(Set up 3 September 2007)

Provisional results f rom t his study have

Indicated th at over the slud ied t ime period(February 2007 (Pretorial and since June 2007(ot her sites) t o December 2007) am bienttemperature played an important role Indeterm ining the populat ion growth of adul t T.pNcgrinus ind ividua ls . Theume stocons :percgrmus popu lat ion growth withm thecolder regions 01 the country namely those ofPretor ia and Pret Relief areas. were attcc tco bym in im um an d m ean tem perature s. Incontrast. dala obta ined tram Tzan eenrevealed that dUTlng t he dry. wi nl er period T.J)eregrmus populations were correlated to t hatat maximum temperatures and not mean ormirumumtemperatures. poss ibly because Iheminimal cnhcal thermal limits of T. peregrUluswere nol reached as mi ght have occurredWithin the co lder Pretoria and Piet Reticl sites.

These environmental variables are likely tochange considerably Within the summ ermonths. It has 10 tnorctorc be st ressed thatthe mtcrmanon present ed here is prelim inaryand th.ilt conclusions about environmentalfactors affecting the pcnutenou growth of T.ocroqrmus might be inaccurate at t his stage.The data obtamcd only afte r a l ull year ofsamphnq wi ll already gIve a bettor uuncatrontowards the effects of di fferent environmentalfact ors th at affect T. pCfcgrmus. Theseindi cations can then be verif ied during asecond year of samplrnq.

AcknowledgementsWe wou ld like to thank the follow ing for th eirassistance w it h this trial: Bothe Maree. Soniadu Buis scn. Maunts Perold (Hans Merensky.Northern Timbers). Tony winter (Mond i),Tammy Swain and Denis Oscroft (ICFRl. GlenMitchell (Klf).

- - I'<"*"Ia__ T--.

•. - Snbe__ PI. Reo.-+- T~..-.__ T~.........__ z,,"~

__ _ JTBI",tzllu"g

}•

"",,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,... -' ,, ,, . '" '\ '- ' ''I':

- " I ""- - ... ,; 'to\ ' )J . A- ..... -.\ .. /, 6:--- " · ·'\X~ ;,..--" - -,(':?r·;::.;y-.~:::;S~

Dale

•••..••..(I •• •••>t ..~

"..•>< •••e o••

Fig ure 1; An overv iew 01 the mean number ot rhaumastocoris peregJinus adults caugh t at eachsamphnq site calc ulated on a fort nigh t ly basis

Who's Who in the TP(P!

GILBERT KAMGAN NKUEKAMPhD studentNational it y : Cameroonian

Re search I Expertise: My research projectfocuses on the study of cpfuostometcrc t unqi.their insect as soci ates and wou nds onEucalyptus trees in Australia and South Africa .Opntcstomatoid tung l. whic h reqmrc woundslor infection at tr ees. arc bemg more commonlyreported trom EUCiJlyplus trees as Importantpathogens. These fungi arc known to haveassoc iations With insects that erther makewounds, result ing in fu ng<ll mtccucn. or vrsitfresh wounds and thereby introduce fung i t otrees. For my PhD study I wilt specif icallyiovcsnaate I he inte ract ion betwee n wounds.insects and optnosrornetcrc fungi 011 Eucalyptust rees. In collabo rat io n wit h A us t ra l ianco ll eag ues. 1 a m als o investigat in goph iostomato id f ung i on Eucelypt us: i nAustralia. Although Eucalyptus tree s are nativeto Australia. yet very little is known regardmgthe optucsromatom fu ngi on t hese t rees in thorrnat ive range.

H o bbies I Intere sts : I am a big soccer i an. Ialso play soccer. but du e to my studies this docsnot happen ette n. Others spo rts t hat I enJOy areboxing, atmencs and rugby (my interest In rugbyhas grown cc nsrderably since the last WorldCup). To kccnnt I run and go to thegynl .

HARDUS HATTIN GSenior TechnicianNationality: South African

- ---.

Re se arch I Experti se : My work is mai nlyfocused around the biolog ical control of theSrrex wood w asp. I am resoonsrbte tor the massprodu ct ion of the parasit ic nematodeDd ildcmusSificidicofa. which is cu rrentl y used as thepri mary control agent tor Sues. Th is mcruccsgrowing and maintauunq healthy cultures of thenemat ode and the fungus on whi ch t henematodes feed and til e long term storageof thenemato d es in l i q u i d ni t rogentcryoprcserveucn j. The past nine months havebeen part icu larly challenging and excrnnq. aswe needed to produc e over t wo b i ll ionncmetooes! Thanks to an enormous team effo rt.we achieved this goal. and more. Apart trom thenematode production. I am al so Involved withSrrcx and general entomology research andoxtcnsron work at t he TPCP. This includes thepreparation and implementation of fie ld tr ials.collecting samp les and presenting at held days.

Ho bbies I Intere st s : Watch ing rugby.playing golf. having a braat and social izing. I aman outdoors person. and enJOy camping andhiking ,

(onferences attended byTP(p/nHB members

Oller the lasl si ~ months a variety ofconferences were attended by members of theTPCP and CTHB. These con ferences incl udedthe bian nual meeti ng of the South Af ricanSociety of Microb iol ogy (SASMj, theIntern ational Union of Forest ResearchOrganisations meeting (IUFR01, the fi rst jointconference of the South African Association ofBotanists (SAAB) and South Afr ican Societyfor Systematic Biology (SASSB).

The IUFRO conference entitled "Eucalyptsand Diversity: balancing productivity andsustainability" took place from the 22'"' to the26"' of October 2007. It was the l i rst t im e in 15years that this conference took place in Africa.Delegates included stude nts, researchers,academics and individuals from forest-relatedfiel ds. Fabians included the following: DerianEcbeveni. Ryan Nadel, Brett Hurley, Dr.Bernard Slippers and Proffers Jol anda Rouxand MikeWingfield .

Two other conferences covered a d iverserange of topics pertaining to Microb iology,Botany and Systematic Biology and were heldin January this year. During 14 10 18January ajoint conference of SAAB and SASSB lookplace at the Drakensvi ll e Resort. Topicsincluded tor example B iodiversi ty andConse rvation , A n i m a l a n d P l a n tPhylogeneticsand Pollination Biology and thelast day was set aside for talks speci ficallycovering the Cape Biota. Attendees from FASIincluded: MSc students (Marija xvas. MarceleVermeu len, ChrizeUe Beuke s), PhD students(Gilbert Kamgan and A lbe van der Merwel,Pcst-doct c rat fellow Marieka Gryzenhout andresearch project leaders Dr. Emma Steenkampand Prof. Jolanda Roux.

The SASM meeting, 21 - 25 January, formedpart of the Bio·08 Confe rence that also

included two othe r conferences. namely t heSouth African Society for Biochemist ry andMolecular Biol ogy and Biotech SA. Thecombined meet ing was hel d at RhodesUni versi ty. Grahamstown. Members from ourgroup which attended t h is conferenceincluded: MSc students (Ariska van der Nest.Amelia Keyser. Aisha Mohammed·A li, andFrancois van der w attl and project leaders Or.Ger! Maraisand Prof. Brenda Wingfield.

IUfROPopu lation Divers ity and Struc ture of theEuca ly pt u s s n o u t· b eetl e , Gonlp trrusscu/r>lfal us (Coleoptera, Curcuhonidae) InSouth Afr ica, Spain, Chile and Uruguay

Echeverri D. Sl ippers B. Hu r ley BP andWingtield MJ.

The Eucalyptus snout -beet le. Goniplerusscutottetus, is native to Australia, but has beenin troduced rntc many count r ies w hereeucalypts arc grown com merci ally as non ­nati ves. The hrst record 01 tho post in SouthAf rica WilS in 191 6 and it has more recent lyappeared in Uruguay ( t 943). Spain (t99t) andChile (1993). In these non-native areas, G.scatcue tas is one of t he most irueortant pestsattacki ng Eucalyptus spp.. caus ing defoliatron.reducti on In growth and sometimes death of thetrees. Despite the long history and importanceof G. scatotutas as a pest of non -nativeEucalyptus spo. In plantations. li ttle is knownregardmg the divers ity ot popu lations with inand between these countries or how this mayin ffuence cont rol strateqres. In t t us study, wedeterm ined ti le poputat.cn diversity andst ruc ture ct G. scutcnatus WIthin South Africa.and compared thiSWith representative samplesfr om Sp a in , Chile a n d U r u g u ay. I n

Sout h Atrica, individuals were collected from allthe main areas where EllCalyptus species areplanted, whi le individuals from Spain, Chi le andUru guay were collected from ind ividual si tes atPcntcvedra.Ct uftan and Paysand u. respectively,A 476 bp DNA fragment of t he mi toc homlr ia lcytochrome oxiddSC' I (COl) gene was sequencedfor Indi viduals from t he four areas. Analyses ofthese mitochond rial sequence data sho wed twodi stmc t clades With in the Sout h Alr icanGoniptorus pouutaticn. each With very limitedcrvcrsrty and structure. This suggests twoindependent int roductions and subsequentspread throughout th e country. One of t heseSouth African l ineages is also shared by theChilean. Spanish and Urug uayan populat ion s,reflect ing a ccnunou origin of the introductionof tt ns lineage of GoniptC'flJs into <111 t heseregion s. Of an int roduct ion trom the samesource pcpulatrcn. Finall y. a tlm d mi toc hon drialsequence clade Vias observed in the Uruguayanpopulat ion of Gonipterus. bet 110t in any of theother countnes. The porccntaee diffe rencebetw een th e three mitochondr ial COl sequenceclades was suffICiently h igh to suggest tha t theinsect s represen t distinct species. Data fromAust ralia. the count ry of or igin of G. scutcuetcs.is now required to elucidate the uncertaintiesregardlllg the taxonomy of Gomotorus. andoctermme ItS path ways of Introductio n in toother partsof the world ,

Di stribution and Populati on Structure of theBronze Bug, Th<wnJas tocoris PC'rcgrius inSout h Afr ican EUCiJ lyptus Plantations

Nadel RL. Slippers B. Scholes Me andWingfield MJ ,

I heurnestocora p(!r{'grlnus. also known as t hebronz e bug . is a recen t ly Int rodu cedinverte brate pest on comme rcially grownEucalyptus trees in South Africa, This sapfeeding insect has spread rap idly th roughoutthe cou ntr y posing a major t hreat to the localforestry indu stry by reducmjj til e growth oftrees. Intensive. countr ywi de surveys for T.pt:>rt:>grinus were condu cted. spanning severalEucalyptus species. hybrids and their clones,and variousgeolog ical and cli ma tic regions .

The main spccres cr hybr ids tha t were found tobe attac ked by the insect were E. gr<lIJdis xcsrneldutonsis and E. grilndis x urop hy/lilclones. although E<grandis. E. tcrl'tl com is andE. smilhlr w ere also severely infested. Noconsi stent c l imatic re stncncns on t hed istrib ut ion or popula tion build-up of T.pcr(>grin u$ w ere observed. Analyses ofnutochondrial DNA sequence diverSity wereused to characterise the popula tion struct ureand distribut ion of the pest in South Af rica.Result s ind icate that two naplotyocs of T.pC'l'egrinus are present One of th ese IS Widelydis tributed in bot h summer and winter ramtauareas.

The other haplotype IS comment III a smnllarea in t he sub t rop ical summer rainfall 20ne.This d istribution. together with the knowndirect ion of init ial spread. suggests that theremight have been tw o int roduct ions of T.pcregri lw s into Sout h At rica.

A Diverse Assemblage of Bot ryosphaeriaceaeln lect Eucalyp tus in Intr oduce and Nativeanvnenment s

Slippers B. Pavhc D. Maleme H,Wingf ield MJ

The Bot ryosphaeriaceae cause endophyt icinfections in leaves and bark of various trees.inc ludi ng Eucetyo tus. and apparent ly persist forexte nded periods 01 t ime. Under cond itions ofstress. t hese l ung i cause many d rttcr en t diseasesym ptoms on Eucetypt us. of which stem andbranch cankers and die-back are t he mos tprominent . Given their c-ypt.c. endophyt icnatu re, the Botryosphacria ceae are easi lyoverlooked when movmq seeds and plantsaround the world. It is. therefore, not surpris ing10 see a grow ing number of examples ofint roducl ions of Botryosphaeriaceae into newen vi ro n men ts , In t h e pas t. oill y t w oBot ryosphaeriaceae were commonly reportedh om Eucalyp t us . namely Bo tryospha(!, iiJdothidC'il ilnri Nccdusiccccum (Ibis (r('por/ed as B.ribis). i t is now known that these spec ies arcgenerall y rare on Eucalyptus. and tnet N.per vum. N. eucetvotorum. N. eucalypticola. N.eus treto , N , mecrccle vetum. N , etrdinum.

DichonHYiI eucalypti, Pseudo/usicoccumstromaticum and LdSlodip lod/a theobfomac alsoinfec t this nest. Interest ing ly. differen t speciesdominate on Eucalyptus in different regions 01the world. irrespective 01whether othe r speciesoccur in that environment or not. As examples.ill cart s of eastern Australia. N. eucdlyptorumand N. eucalyptico/a dom inate. although N.ilus trale is common Oil Acacid spp. in t his area.while i n west ern A ustr al ia N. austra/cdominates. In South At nca and Chile N. parvum.N. eucatvotorum and N. cucdlypticola arecommon. despite t he presence of N. (Ibis and N.austrdle on related hosts such as Syzygium. InVenezuela. there arc five other species notcommon on Eucalyptus in other areas. but L.ttreobromee dcrnmates. In Colo mbia. B.dothidea and 8. flb/s, and m Uganda andEthiopia. L. ttwotnomeo and N. parvum. are themost common. These fascmatmq patterns 01dis tribut ion are explored, w hile thei rpathogenici ty and poten tial in fluence onEucalyptus plantat ions and surrouncnnq nativeplant com mumtiesare consicoroe.

SAAB/SASSBDiversity of Fusarium species associatedWi th malformed Infl orescences of Syzygiumconu tum

KvasM . Steenkamp ET. Wingt ield BD. MarasasWFOand Wingfield MJ,

Syzygium cordatum is myrtaceous tree nativeto Southern Af rica. Throughout its natu raldistribution. the inflorescences of tnrs treeappear 10 be affected by a mal forma tiondisease, typically result ing in abnormallyenlarged, excesswety branc hed and steri leinflorescences. On Mangifera indica. similarsympto ms are associated with at least tourFusarium species. The aim of this study was,t herefore, to determine the divers ity offusarum species associa ted wit h malformedS.co,datum in flo rescences in South Afr ica. Inorder to identifyFusarium species recovered

from the infected intlorescences. isola teswere characterised using DNA sequencedata. For t his purp ose, isolat9S W (l( 9 qrco padu si n g restriction f r ag m e nt l en g t hpolym orp hism (RFLP) anal ys!s of theamplifi..d ribosome RNA int erg&nic SP OX 6or

(IGS) r..gicn, An i soete was then chosen fa­9ach un iq ue IGS·RFLP profi le and pat of thegene Y1codin g trM slct icn Q1ong~tion t ecto­1 (EF1) was ampli fied and sequenced.Th9Se Seq UQ"lCElS w" re therl ccmpared withthe known Eft sequeoces in the fus ilfiumi d e n ti fi ca ti o n d a t a b a s eChttp :// fusarium.cbio.psu.9d ull . OJ r resul tssh ow ...d t hat malform ed S. cordat urnlntlc-escences arecolon ized by highly d iversef usarium species belonging 10 the sectionsElegans. Gibbosum, Arthrosporiella andLiseola. Alt hough some of t hese are well ­known saprophytes (e.g. F. oxysporum. F.equiseti and F. pdl/idoroseuml. the majority ofthe Fusarium isolates examined appear torepresent novel lineages andlor species ofthis genus. Hence, previously unexploredecological niches such as malfo rmed S.cor aeturn i n flo re scences re presentsignificant sources of novel fungi. nol only ofFusarium . but mosl probab ly also other fung i.

Cryphonectrieceee canker pathogens onnat ive and ncn-native Myrtales In southernAfrl ca

Vermeulen M, Gryzenhout M, Wingfield MJand RouxJ.

The Cryphonectrieceee incl udes some of theworld's mosl imporlant tree pathogens, Threegenera occu r in Africa. These include twospecies at Chrysoporthe. Chr. austfOdfricanaand Chr. cubensis , with Ch,. austroafricanahypothesized to be native and Chr. cubensisintroduced. Chr. austroafricana infect s non­nat ive Eucalyptus spp. and Tibouchina spp.and nat ive Syzygium spp. in southern tocentral Africa. Chr. cubensis infects non­nat ive Eucalyptus spp. and S. Moma ticum incentral Afr ica. Cetooortne dispersa is knownonty from South Africaand has been collec ted

from Hf!teropyxis cenescem. S. cordatum and T.granulosa. Holocryphia eucalypti, known onl yon Eucalyptus spp.. is believed to have beenintroduced into South Africa. Based on thenum ber of new report s. it is clea r that thegeograph ical an d ho st dist ribu t ion o fCryphone'Clriacf!'iJf!' in Africa is incom plete. Inthis study, Myrtales in Zambia, Swaziland andSouth Afr ica were surveyed for the presence ofCryphonf!Ctriacf!ae. Isolates were ident ifiedbased on morphology and DNA sequencecomparisons for the partial tubulin gene regionand the internal transcribed spacer regions ofthe ribosom al RNA operon. Cel. atsoerse wasidentified for t he firs t time from Zambia on S.guineense and S. cordetum and on S. legatti inSouth Africa. H. eucalypt i was fou nd inSwaziland. Results of this study show that Cel.dispersa and H . eucalypti nave a wide rgeograph ical and host range then previouslythoug ht. Surveys and monitoring of theoccurrence of these fungi should contin ue asthey are serious can ker pathogens of trees,clearly capable of host jumps betw een speciesin the Myrtales.

Polyphaslc taltonomy reveals numerous newfungal tree pathogens in the cryphonectriaceae

Gryzenhout M and Wingfield MJ

The Cryphonectriaceae is a recent ly establishedfami ly includ ing well ·known canker palhogensof forest trees, some of which have causeddevastating diseases. Examples of th esepathogens include Cryphonectria parasil ica thatcauses chestnut blight in the NorthernHemisphere, and Chrysoporthe cubensis thatcauses cankers on Eucalyp tus spp. and relatedtrees in the tropicsand sub-tropics, Recent DNAand morphol ogy based taxonomic revrsronshave led to the descri ption of many additionalgenera and species in this family. Current ly theCrypnonectneceee includes ten genera and 22species. where it prio r to t hese stud ies,encompassed onl y two genera and 13 species.Ongoi ng surveys in several parts of the worldand the characterization of existi ng isolates areconstantly revealing new genera and species.

For example. a new genus in this group has

recentl y been found to cause a canker disease

on Eucalyptus clonal hedges in Indonesia.

li kewise. another new genus is associated

with dying Eucalyptus tw igs in Colombia.

Many of t he newly described genera are also

monotypic. This clearly indicates that the

Cryphon·ectriaceae remains a largely under­

sampled gro up. This is also illustrated by the

l ac t t h a t new d i sea ses cause d by

Cryphonf!C/ri ilceae are continuously found on

well -studied hosts such as Eucalyptus. These

fungi probab ly occur on the vastly unexplored

native veqetation surrounding many of these

Eucalyp lus plantations, and are able to infect

t rees in commercial Eucalyplus plantations.

Bio-OS

Botryosphaeriaceae associa ted with nativeAcacia spp. with specia l reference to Acaciamrlll!C'ra (M. Val'll .) Benth .

van cler Wall FJJ. Marais GJ. Shpners B. Roux JandWingfic ldMJ.

Acacia SPIl. play a signif icant ecolog ical andeconomic role III southern Africa , However,there IS stil l a cons iderable lack 01 kncwlc dqerllgardi ng the diseases asscc tatcc With t eesctrees. Membl;'rs of tne Botryoschecriaceaopose cons iderable risks as pathogens that canjump between native and non-na tive tree hosts.Because 01this t hreat the identrficatron of. andknowledge of the biolog y of these pathogens iscruc ial, especia lly It they occur all plants thatarc transported world·wide. Surveys wereconducted on A. mclli/cra in the Pretoriaarea, 011A. ml'lli/cril and other native ACilCia spp. WithSimi lar symptoms in Namibia and in the NorthEastern Cape Province.

A large number of Botryosphaeriaceae iso lateswere obta ined. In toter. twelve diffe rent specieswere identified based on PCR RFLP groupi ngs.morphologica l charactc rnancn and seq uoncmqdata. Ten new spec ies. InCllld lng 11 new genus iscescnbed. These Inc luded Dolhiore/!a rosutete

sp. nov, D. ob/onga so. nov.. D. cepo.emissi sp.nov., Neof lJsicoccum n<Jmlbiensr: sp. 11 0 V,.

Fus i co ccum a vs smowts aum sp. no v.•Lasiodiplodia pyriformIS so. nov.. L. magnis tria ta

so. nov: Dlp/odia "ar,abrlis ap. nov. ann the newgenus. Mucodlplodia crov gen . with two newspecies. M. atncana eo. IlOV. an d M . papillai a su.nov, Dolhiorella vilicola and Bolryosphaeria

dothldea which also included a new Dichomera

synanamorph were also ident if ied. This isthetrrst detailed study of Botryo-sphaerieceaeoccu rring on native AC<lcia soc. in southernAfr ica and greatl y expands the number ofspec ies known from tbeccntment.

c nnzcne Beukes. Albe "an aer Morwo. Marcel!'Vermeulen. Emma Slecnflamp. Jolanda Raux.M<l rlj a KUilS. Mancka Gryzehou/ ,:f: GilbertKamgan N kuekam in tno Drakensberg.

2 1 - 2S January 2008

BiotechSA

Arisila Van DuNes t. Francois v. d. Walt ,:f:Aisha Moham me d.

1