Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2022.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Visagie, Cobus
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2023
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867613516173672448
access_status_str Open Access
author2 Visagie, Cobus
author_browse Visagie, Cobus
author_facet Visagie, Cobus
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2022.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/88994
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:23.306Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/88994 The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa Visagie, Cobus jenna-lee.price@up.ac.za Yilmaz, Neriman Price, Jenna-Lee Fungal strains Ear rots Mycotoxins Penicillium Fusarium Aspergillus UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2022. Maize is a staple food crop cultivated globally. In South Africa, the Eastern Cape contributes less than 1% to the overall production. The farming community in the Eastern Cape is largely comprised of small scale and emerging maize farms. Maize production in the province has previously been associated with mycotoxigenic fungi and their toxic metabolites. The Eastern Cape has recently been identified as a region to be developed into a large maize producer. However, there is a gap in the knowledge on the fungi associated with maize in the province. This prompted the present study in which we explored the fungal diversity and mycotoxins associated with maize from emerging maize farms in the Eastern Cape. The fungal diversity associated with post-harvest maize collected from the Eastern Cape was examined. This study resulted in the isolation of 481 fungal strains belonging to Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Penicillium and 15 other genera. Communities were found to be relatively diverse with strains identified to 84 species. Amongst these were several known mycotoxin producers. The most common species identified were Fusarium boothii, F. poae, F. temperatum, and Cladosporium cladosporioides. In addition, this study aimed to identify the fungal species and mycotoxins associated with maize ear rots collected from maize farms in the Eastern Cape. We observed Cladosporium, Diplodia, Fusarium and Gibberella ear rots. It was noted that ear rots are caused by a more diverse range of species than previously thought. The co-occurrence of mycotoxins associated with these species was also recorded. This survey is the first reporting a diverse range of fungal species from Eastern Cape produced maize that employed DNA sequences to make identifications. Additionally, this is the first study conducted in the Eastern Cape to consider all of these aspects together. This study creates an important baseline knowledge for future surveys that will focus on the impact fungal communities may have on the production of high-quality maize in the region, the diseases they may cause, and the mycotoxins they may produce. Future Leaders - African Independent Research fellowship programme (grant nr: FLAIR, FLR\R1\201831 received by Prof Cobus Visagie) Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology (BGM) MSc Unrestricted 2023-01-27T07:58:31Z 2023-01-27T07:58:31Z 2023-04 2022 Dissertation * A2023 https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/88994 10.25403/UPresearchdata.21953282 en © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Fungal strains
Ear rots
Mycotoxins
Penicillium
Fusarium
Aspergillus
UCTD
The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
title The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
title_full The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
title_fullStr The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
title_short The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
title_sort fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the eastern cape south africa
topic Fungal strains
Ear rots
Mycotoxins
Penicillium
Fusarium
Aspergillus
UCTD
url https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/88994