Primary Supervisor
Primary Supervisor
Primary Supervisor
Professor
My research aims to gain a better understanding of the molecular dialogue between plants and pathogens with the long term goal of developing sustainable strategies to control crop diseases of relevance in Africa. The MPPI research group is currently focused on understanding the host-pathogen interaction in grey leaf spot disease of maize. We implement a range of approaches from whole plant phenotyping to genomics to investigate this pathosystem.
In addition, I have often been involved in projects that apply genomics to better understand plant biology and diversity. The current project in this theme is focused on the medicinally important tree genus Greyia that is endemic in South Africa.
Prior to joining the University of Pretoria, I completed a PhD in Microbiology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (1990), where I cloned, sequenced and characterized a key transcriptional regulator involved in nitrogen metabolism of the "gold mining" bacterium, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. A key part of this study was developing a novel screen that exploited the gene’s regulatory role in gas production of bacteria.
My Postdoctoral stint was spent at the University of California, Berkeley, USA (1991-1993). The host laboratory was at the cutting edge of describing the transcriptional regulation of nitrogen metabolism in bacteria. My research contributed to understanding the biochemistry of DNA bending by integration host factor and phosphorylation-based two-component transcriptional activation.
On return to South Africa, I joined the Plant Biotechnology Group of the Agricultural Research Council, where I developed a research focus on polygalacturonase inhibiting proteins and their role in defence against fungal pathogens (1993 – 2000).
I joined the Plant Science Department at the University of Pretoria as a member of FABI (2000) and setup a DNA microarray facility, which formed the basis of a gene expression profiling service. With the advent of next-generation sequencing, this is now superseded by other initiatives such as the UP Genomics Laboratory. However, it laid the foundation for the genomics and bioinformatics approaches that have been implemented subsequently in the MPPI research programme.
Botha I, De Canha MN, Oberlander K, Botes J, Lall N, Berger DK. (2025) DNA barcoding and anti-tyrosinase activities of three species-representative populations of the genus Greyia Hook & Harv. South African Journal of Botany 10.1016/j.sajb.2025.11.035
Nadasen T, Buitendag C, Visser R, Welgemoed T, Hein I, Berger DK. (2025) A latent invader: transcriptomics reveals Cercospora zeina’s stealth infection strategy of maize and immune-activating effectors. Frontiers in Plant Science 10.3389/fpls.2025.1703682
Botes J, Ma X, Chang J, Van de Peer Y, Berger DK. (2025) Flavonoids and anthocyanins in seagrasses: implications for climate change adaptation and resilience. Frontiers in Plant Science 10.3389/fpls.2024.1520474
Tembo M, Mahlangu JNN, Berger DK, Chimutingiza H, Chikoti PC, Prasanna BM, Suresh LM, Nsibo DL. (2024) First report of Bipolaris yamadae and Exserohilum rostrum associated with leaf spots of maize (Zea maydis) in Zambia. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-05-24-1116-PDN
Nsibo DL, Barnes I, Berger DK. (2024) Recent advances in the population biology and management of maize foliar fungal pathogens Exserohilum turcicum, Cercospora zeina and Bipolaris maydis in Africa. Frontiers in Plant Science
Marais I, Buitendag C, Duong TA, Crampton BG, Theron J, Kidanemarium D, Berger DK. (2024) Double-stranded RNA uptake for the control of the maize pathogen Cercospora zeina. Plant Pathology 10.1111/ppa.13909
Abkallo HM, Arbuthnot P, Auer TO, Berger DK, Burger J, Chakauya E, Concordet J-P, Diabate A, Di Donato V, Groenewald J-H, Guindo A, Koekemoer LL, Nazare F, Nolan T, Okumu F, Orefuwa E, Paemka L, Prieto-Godino L, Runo S, Sadler M, Tesfaye K, Tripathi L, Wondji C. (2024) Making genome editing a success story in Africa. Nature Biotechnology
Omondi DO, Dida MM, Berger DK, Beyene Y, Nsibo DL, Juma C, Mahabaleswara SL, Gowda M. (2023) Combination of Linkage and Association Mapping with Genomic Prediction to Infer QTL Regions Associated with Gray Leaf Spot and Northern Corn Leaf Blight Resistance in Tropical Maize. Frontiers in Genetics 10.3389/fgene.2023.1282673
Welgemoed T, Duong TA, Barnes I, Stukenbrock EH, Berger DK. (2023) Population genomic analyses suggest recent dispersal events of the pathogen Cercospora zeina into East and Southern African maize cropping systems. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 10.1093/g3journal/jkad214
Wingfield, Brenda D., Berger, Dave K., Coetzee, Martin P. A., Duong, Tuan A., Martin, Anke, Pham, Nam Q., van den Berg, Noelani, Wilken, P. Markus, Arun-Chinnappa, Kiruba Shankari, Barnes, Irene, Buthelezi, Sikelela, Dahanayaka, Buddhika Amarasinghe, Durán, Alvaro, Engelbrecht, Juanita, Feurtey, Alice, Fourie, Arista, Fourie, Gerda, Hartley, Jesse, Kabwe, Eugene N. K., Maphosa, Mkhululi, Narh Mensah, Deborah L., Nsibo, David L., Potgieter, Lizel, Poudel, Barsha, Stukenbrock, Eva H., Thomas, Chanel, Vaghefi, Niloofar, Welgemoed, Tanya, Wingfield, Michael J.. (2022) IMA genome‑F17 Draft genome sequences of an Armillaria species from Zimbabwe, Ceratocystis colombiana, Elsinoë necatrix, Rosellinia necatrix, two genomes of Sclerotinia minor, short‑read genome assemblies and annotations of four Pyrenophora teres isolates from barley grass, and a long-read genome assembly of Cercospora zeina. 10.1186/s43008-022-00104-3