• Profiling the diversity of the village chicken faecal microbiota using 16S rRNA gene and metagenomic sequencing data to reveal patterns of gut microbiome signatures 

  Nene, Mxolisi; Kunene, Nokuthula W.; Pierneef, Rian; Hadebe, Khanyisile (Frontiers Media, 2025-02)

  INTRODUCTION: The production environment of extensively raised village chickens necessitates their adaptability to low-resource systems. The gut microbiome plays a critical role in supporting this adaptability by influencing ...
• Gene transfer between fungal species triggers repeated coffee wilt disease outbreaks 

  Wingfield, Brenda D.; Wingfield, Michael J. (Public Library of Science, 2024-12-06)

  Two outbreaks of coffee wilt disease have devastated African coffee production. A PLOS Biology study suggests that horizontal gene transfer via large Starship transposons between 2 fungal species played a key role in the ...
• Genomic diversity and antimicrobial susceptibility of invasive Neisseria meningitidis in South Africa, 2016–2021 

  Mikhari, Rito L.; Meiring, Susan; De Gouveia, Linda; Chan, Wai Yin; Jolley, Keith A.; Van Tyne, Daria; Harrison, Lee H.; Marjuki, Henju; Ismail, Arshad; Quan, Vanessa; Cohen, Cheryl; Walaza, sibongile; Von Gottberg, Anne; Du Plessis, Mignon (Oxford University Press, 2024-12-15)

  Please read abstract in the article.
• Growth rate extremes of a Sciaenid in an ocean-warming hotspot 

  Jagger, Charmaine E.; Potts, Warren M.; Pringle, Brett A.; Bordbar, M. Hadi; Henriques, Romina; McKeown, Niall J.; Wilhelm, Margit R. (Elsevier, 2025-05)

  Argyrosomus inodorus is a cool water Sciaenid, important to the recreational and commercial coastal fishery in Namibia, the northern Benguela. Given recent findings on the northern Benguela as an ocean-warming hotspot and ...
• Expanding the toolkit for ploidy manipulation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 

  Van de Vloet, Antoine; Prost-Boxoen, Lucas; Bafort, Quinten; Paing, Yunn Thet; Casteleyn, Griet; Jomat, Lucile; Lemaire, Stephane D.; De Clerck, Olivier; Van de Peer, Yves (Wiley, 2025)

  Whole-genome duplications, widely observed in plant lineages, have significant evolutionary and ecological impacts. Yet, our current understanding of the direct implications of ploidy shifts on short- and long-term plant ...
• Asymmetric genome merging leads to gene expression novelty through nucleo-cytoplasmic disruptions and transcriptomic shock in Chlamydomonas triploids 

  Prost-Boxoen, Lucas; Bafort, Quinten; Van de Vloet, Antoine; Almeida-Silva, Fabricio; Paing, Yunn Thet; Casteleyn, Griet; D'hondt, Sofie; De Clerck, Olivier; Van de Peer, Yves (Wiley, 2025-01)

  Genome merging is a common phenomenon causing a wide range of consequences on phenotype, adaptation, and gene expression, yet its broader implications are not well-understood. Two consequences of genome merging on gene ...
• Chromosome-level assemblies for the pine pitch canker pathogen Fusarium circinatum 

  De Vos, Lieschen; Van der Nest, Magrieta Aletta; Santana, Quentin C.; Van Wyk, Stephanie; Leeuwendaal, Kyle; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Steenkamp, Emma Theodora (MDPI, 2024-01)

  The pine pitch canker pathogen, Fusarium circinatum, is globally regarded as one of the most important threats to commercial pine-based forestry. Although genome sequences of this fungus are available, these remain highly ...
• Sex pheromone receptor Ste2 orchestrates chemotropic growth towards pine root extracts in the pitch canker pathogen Fusarium circinatum 

  Ramaswe, J.B.; Steenkamp, Emma Theodora; De Vos, Lieschen; Fru, Felix Fon; Adegeye, O.O.; Wingfield, Brenda D. (MDPI, 2024-05)

  In ascomycetous fungi, sexual mate recognition requires interaction of the Ste2 receptor protein produced by one partner with the α-factor peptide pheromone produced by the other partner. In some fungi, Ste2 is further ...
• Inconsistencies within the proposed framework for stabilizing fungal nomenclature risk further confusion 

  Kidd, Sarah E.; Hagen, Ferry; Halliday, Catriona L.; Abdolrasouli, Alireza; Boekhout, Teun; Crous, Pedro W.; Ellis, David H.; Elvy, Juliet; Forrest, Graeme N.; Groenewald, Marizeth; Hahn, Rosane C.; Houbraken, Jos; Rodrigues, Anderson M.; Scott, James; Sorrell, Tania C.; Summerbell, Richard C.; Tsui, Clement K.M.; Yurkov, Andrey M.; Chen, Sharon C.-A. (American Society for Microbiology, 2024-04)

  We read with interest the recent publication by de Hoog and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (1) and support the goal to stabilize fungal nomenclature. Although we recognize the importance of stable naming, ...
• FEP augmentation as a means to solve data paucity problems for machine learning in chemical biology 

  Burger, Pieter B.; Hu, Xiaohu; Balabin, Ilya; Muller, Morne; Stanley, Megan; Joubert, Fourie; Kaiser, Thomas M. (American Chemical Society, 2024-04-23)

  In the realm of medicinal chemistry, the primary objective is to swiftly optimize a multitude of chemical properties of a set of compounds to yield a clinical candidate poised for clinical trials. In recent years, two ...
• Plasmid DNA-based reverse genetics as a platform for manufacturing of bluetongue vaccine 

  Mlingo, Tendai A.M.; Theron, Jacques; Mokoena, Nobalanda B. (American Society for Microbiology, 2025-04)

  Control of bluetongue disease is predominantly through vaccination with licensed inactivated or live-attenuated vaccines (LAVs). Manufacturing of LAVs in endemic countries requires formulation with a high number of serotypes ...
• Ecological success of extreme halophiles subjected to recurrent osmotic disturbances is primarily driven by congeneric species replacement 

  Bustos-Caparros, Esteban; Viver, Tomeu; Gago, Juan F.; Rodriguez-R, Luis M.; Hatt, Janet K.; Venter, S.N. (Stephanus Nicolaas); Fuchs, Bernhard M.; Amann, Rudolf; Bosch, Rafael; Konstantinidis, Konstantinos T.; Rossello-Mora, Ramon (Oxford University Press, 2024-11)

  To understand how extreme halophiles respond to recurrent disturbances, we challenged the communities thriving in salt-saturated (∼36% salts) ∼230 L brine mesocosms to repeated dilutions down to 13% (D13 mesocosm) or 20% ...
• Managing wilding pines in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa : progress and prospects 

  Martin, Grant D.; Canavan, Kim; Chikowore, Gerald; Bugan, Richard; De Lange, Willem; Du Toit, Ben; Harding, Graham; Heath, Ronald; Hill, Martin; Hurley, Brett Phillip; Ivey, Philip; Muir, Debbie; Musedeli, Jufter; Richardson, David M.; Slippers, Bernard; Stafford, Louise; Turner, Andrew; Watson, Kirsten; Van Wilgen, Brian W. (Elsevier, 2025-02)

  The occurrence and continuing spread of wilding pines (genus Pinus) in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR), South Africa, impacts negatively on water resources, threatens the region's rich biodiversity, and increases the damage ...
• Characterization of the soil resistome and mobilome in Namib Desert soils 

  Naidoo, Yashini; Pierneef, Rian Ewald; Cowan, Don A.; Valverde, Angel (Springer, 2024-08)

  The study of the soil resistome is important in understanding the evolution of antibiotic resistance and its dissemination between the clinic and the environment. However, very little is known about the soil resistome, ...
• An integrative re-evaluation of the Fusarium sambucinum species complex 

  Sandoval-Denis, M.; Costa, M.M.; Broders, K.; Becker, Y.; Maier, W.; Yurkov, A.; Kermode, A.; Buddie, A.G.; Ryan, M.J.; Schumacher, R.K.; Groenewald, J.Z.; Crous, Pedro W. (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, 2025-03)

  The species-rich Fusarium sambucinum species complex (FSAMSC; Fusarium, Nectriaceae, Hypocreales) is well-known for including devastating plant pathogens and toxigenic species. However, this group of grass-loving fungi ...
• Central nervous system infection by free-living nematode Cephalobus cubaensis in a human host in Africa 

  Sriruttan-Nel, Charlotte; Cairns, Chelline; Boughan, Shareen; Moodley, Bhavani; Sun, Lisa Ming; Chan, Wai Yin; Ismail, Arshad; Mwazha, Absalom; Bennimahadeo, Praniel; Manickchund, Nithendra; Moyo, Mthabisi; Nkwanyana, Thabani; Msimang, Mpumelelo Z.; Essa, Ahmed; Frean, John; Moosa, Mahomed-Yunus (MDPI, 2025-02)

  BACKGROUND : Human central nervous system infections due to free-living nematodes, although extremely rare, are usually fatal. Immunodeficiency has not been a feature of most of these cases, unlike the situation pertaining ...
• Prevalence of aeroallergen sensitization in a polluted and industrialized area : a pilot study in South Africa's Vaal Triangle 

  Gharbi, Dorra; Neumann, Frank Harald; Staats, Jurgens; Mcdonald, Marinda; Linde, Jo-hanné; Mmatladi, Tshiamo; Podile, Keneilwe; Piketh, Stuart; Burger, Roelof; Garland, Rebecca M.; Bester, Petra; Lebre, Pedro H.; Ricci, Cristian (Springer, 2025-02)

  This pioneering study evaluates the prevalence of aeroallergens reactivity among atopic populations living in the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA), South Africa. A total of 138 volunteers (51 males and 87 females), ...
• The functional and structural succession of mesic-grassland soil microbiomes beneath decomposing large herbivore carcasses 

  Fouche, Jacques; Lebre, Pedro H.; Melville, Haemish A.; Cowan, Don A. (Wiley, 2025-01)

  Plant detritus is abundant in grasslands but decomposes slowly and is relatively nutrient-poor, whereas animal carcasses are labile and nutrient-rich. Recent studies have demonstrated that labile nutrients from carcasses ...
• A highly divergent mitochondrial genome in extant Cape buffalo from Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa 

  De Jager, Deon; Moller, Marlo; Hoal, Eileen; Van Helden, Paul David; Glanzmann, Brigitte; Harper, Cindy Kim; Bloomer, Paulette (Wiley, 2025-01)

  The reduced cost of next-generation sequencing (NGS) has allowed researchers to generate nuclear and mitochondrial genome data to gain deeper insights into the phylogeography, evolutionary history and biology of non-model ...
• Fungal biocontrol agents in the management of postharvest losses of fresh produce-a comprehensive review 

  Ramudingana, Phathutshedzo; Makhado, Ndivhuho; Kamutando, Casper Nyaradzai; Thantsha, Mapitsi Silvester; Mamphogoro, Tshifhiwa Paris (MDPI, 2025-01)

  Postharvest decay of vegetables and fruits presents a significant threat confronting sustainable food production worldwide, and in the recent times, applying synthetic fungicides has become the most popular technique of ...

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