Primary Supervisor
Associate Professor
I am specifically interested in the chemical interactions of forest trees with insects and microorganisms. My research combines methodologies from diverse fields of specialization, including ecology, natural product biosynthesis and analysis, enzymology, genetics, plant physiology, genetic engineering and microbiology.
In trees, chemical signals are used for communicating with pests and pathogens as well as with beneficial organisms. In some cases, the chemical makeup of a tree tells the pest or pathogen that the tree is a good food source that can be utilized for its own survival and spread. In other cases, specific chemicals can stop an attack by a pathogen or insect due to its toxicity or its bad taste. My research is focused on unravelling the chemical signals of plantation trees and to study which chemical signals are beneficial or detrimental to important South African forestry pests and pathogens. Following analysis of many different varieties and species, the goal is to identify compounds in Eucalyptus, pine or wattle that stimulate and deter insect feeding or pathogen infection. These data can then be used to make accurate predictions on how resistant each variety is to a pest or pathogen. This research can be applied for tree breeding, by creating chemical marker panels for each tree genus (pine, eucalypt or wattle), where a simple chemical analysis can reveal the likelihood of susceptibility or resistance of a newly developed variety to multiple different pests and pathogens. These chemical marker panels do not rely on labor intensive screening trials or subjective measurements and are less costly than other screening methods. The material used for the analyses can be as small as a single detached leaf, and thus the logistics to grow and transport material for the analyses is straight forward.
In addition to the chemical analysis, we are also working on developing methods and models for using spectral techniques, such as NIRA, for distinguishing resistant from susceptible varieties. This non-destructive diagnostic methodology can also be used to identify diseased plants, such as Phytophthorainfection of Eucalyptus roots. This project has enormous potential for transferring the capacity identify early pathogen infection to commercial nurseries and farmers.
Mailula DM, Wingfiled BD, Van Der Nest MA, Hammerbacher A. (2025) Production of fusel alcohols and fusel acetates by pathogenic fungi in the Ceratocystidaceae. Fungal Ecology 10.1016/j.funeco.2025.101427
Solís, M, Hammerbacher, A, Wingfield, M.J, Naidoo, S. (2025) Transcriptional responses of Eucalyptus to infection by an aggressive leaf blight pathogen reveal the role of host secondary metabolites during pathogen germination. Plant Molecular Biology 10.1007/s11103-025-01625-2
Crous, P W, Catcheside, D E A, Catcheside, P S, Alfenas, A C, Alfenas, R F, Barreto, R W, Lebel, T, Balashov, S, Broadbridge, J, Jurjević, Ž, De la Peña-Lastra, S, Hoffmann, R, Mateos, A, Riebesehl, J, Shivas, R G, Soliz Santander, F F, Tan, Y P, Altés, A, Bandini, D, Carriconde, F, Cazabonne, J, Czachura, P, Gryta, H, Eyssartier, G, Larsson, E, Pereira, O L, Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A, Wingfield, M J, Ahmad, W, Bibi, S, Denman, S, Esteve-Raventós, F, Hussain, S, Illescas, T, Luangsa-ard, J J, Möller, L, Mombert, A, Noisripoom, W, Olariaga, I, Pancorbo, F, Paz, A, Piątek, M, Polman-Short, C, Suárez, E, Afshan, N S, Ali, H, Arzanlou, M, Ayer, F, Barratt, J, Bellanger, J-M, Bidaud, A, Bishop-Hurley, S L, Bohm, M, Bose, T, Campo, E, Chau, N B, Çolak, Ö F, Cordeiro, T R L, Cruz, M O, Custódio, F A, Couceiro, A, Darmostuk, V, Dearnaley, J D W, de Azevedo Santiago, A L C M, de Freitas, L W S, Yáñez-Morales, M de J, Domnauer, C, Dentinger, B, Dhileepan, K, De Souza, J T, Dovana, F, Eberhardt, U, Eisvand, P, Erhard, A, Fachada, V, García-Martín, A, Groenewald, M, Hammerbacher, A, Harms, K, Haroon, S, Haqnawaz, M, Henriques, S, Hernández, A J, Jacobus, L M, Jaen-Contreras, D, Jangsantear, P, Kaygusuz, O, Knoppersen, R, Kumar, T K A, Lynch, M J, Mahiques, R, Maraia, G L, Marbach, P A S, Mehrabi-Koushki, M, Miller, P R, Mongkolsamrit, S, Moreau, P-A, Oberlies, N H, Oliveira, J A, Orlovich, D, Pérez-Méndez, A S, Pinto, A, Raja, H A, Ramírez, G H, Raphael, B, Rodrigues, A, Rodrigues, H, Ramos, D O, Safi, A, Sarwar, S, Saar, I, Sánchez, R M, Santana, J S, Scrace, J, Sales, L S, Silva, L N P, Stryjak-Bogacka, M, Tacconi, A, Thanh, V N, Thomas, A, Thuy, N T, Toome, M, Valdez-Carrazco, J M, van Vuuren, N I, Vasey, J, Vauras, J, Vila-Viçosa, C, Villarreal, M, Visagie, C M, Vizzini, A, Whiteside, E J, Groenewald, J Z. (2025) Fungal Planet description sheets: 1781–1866. Persoonia 10.3114/persoonia.2025.54.10
Esterhuizen HJ, Slippers B, Bosman AS, Roux J, Jones W, Bose T, Hammerbacher A. (2025) Early detection of Phytophthora root rot in Eucalyptus using hyperspectral reflectance and machine learning. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 10.1016/j.compag.2025.110761
Hulcr J, Barnes I, Barnes M, Gazis R, Hammerbacher A, Johnson AJ, Lynch S, Lynn K, Marais GC, Mayers CG, Nel W, Villari C, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2025) From forest to fungus: A roadmap to bark beetle mycobiome research. Phytoparasitica 10.1007/s12600-025-01246-x
Bose T, Vivas M, Slippers B, Roux J, Dovey S, Kemler M, Begerow D, Witfeld F, Brachmann A, Wingfield MJ, Hammerbacher A. (2025) Removal of organic biomass in Eucalyptus plantations has a greater impact on fungal than on bacterial networks. Forest Ecology and Management 10.1016/j.foreco.2025.122734
Knoppersen RS, Bose T, Coutinho TA, Hammerbacher A. (2025) Inside the Belly of the Beast: Exploring the Gut Bacterial Diversity of Gonipterus sp. n. 2. Microbial Ecology 10.1007/s00248-025-02524-1
Bose T, Roux J, Titshall L, Dovey SB, Hammerbacher A. (2025) Mulching of post-harvest residues and delayed planting improves fungal biodiversity in South African Eucalyptus plantations and enhances plantation productivity. Applied Soil Ecology 10.1016/j.apsoil.2025.106091
D’Angelo D, Sorrentino R, Nkomo T, Zhou X, Vaghefi N, Sonnekus B, Bose T, Cerrato D, Cozzolino L, Creux N, D’Agostino N, Fourie G, Fusco G, Hammerbacher A, Idnurm A, Kiss L, Hu Y, Hu H, Lahoz E, Risteski J, Steenkamp E T, Viscardi M, van der Nest M A, Wu Y, Yu H, Zhou J, Karandeni Dewage C S, Kotta-Loizou L I, Stotz H U, Fitt B D L, Huang Y, Wingfield BD. (2025) IMA GENOME - F20 A draft genome assembly of Agroathelia rolfsii, Ceratobasidium papillatum, Pyrenopeziza brassicae, Neopestalotiopsis macadamiae, Sphaerellopsis filum and genomic resources for Colletotrichum spaethianum and Colletotrichum fructicola. IMA Fungus 10.3897/imafungus.16.141732
Solís M, Hammerbacher A, Wingfield M.J, Naidoo S. (2025) Enhancing plantation forest sustainability: A review of Eucalyptus defence mechanisms to foliar fungal pathogens. Current Forestry Reports 10.1007/s40725-024-00243-3
Co-Supervisor
Primary Supervisor