Ms Rodé Visser

I completed my BSc degree in Biotechnology with a focus on plant genetics in 2021. I completed my BSc(Hons) Biotechnology in the Plant and Soil Sciences department in 2022 with distinction.

I am currently busy with my MSc under the supervision of Prof Dave Berger. My project is titled: In vitro and in planta phenotyping of Cercospora zeina strains that collected across Africa. I will investigate an avirulence response that was observed between a strain and a hybrid maize cultivar. We have the genomic information available for this strain and it would be used along with bioinformatic tools to investigate the resistance response. The other part my project focuses on the different phenotypes of . I will look at 31 different isolates that were collected in 5 countries in Africa (Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Uganda). For the in vitro part of the project the isolates will be incubated under different conditions (light, temperature, and stress media) and different cultural and morphological characteristics will be measured. For the in planta part the different strains will be inoculated on a maize hybrid. The response and aggressiveness of the strains will be measured.