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Prof Brenda Wingfield obtained her PhD at the University of Stellenbosch in 1989. She is currently a Professor in Genetics in the Department of Genetics at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Her research focus is in fungal phylogenetics and population genetics using molecular techniques, including research on genetic variation within, as well as between, species. A certain component of the work done in her group could, therefore, be considered to be molecular taxonomy.
Prof. Wingfield also has an interest in basic evolutionary biology based on ribosomal RNA genes that extends beyond fungi. As a result, she collaborates with research groups working on a spectrum of different organisms. Much of this collaboration is in association with the Tree Protection Co-operative Programmme (TPCP) at the University of Pretoria with an emphasis on important plant and tree pathogens.
It is important to understand population diversity to control the degree of disease and disease spread. The genetic material in the fungal genome is not the only determinant of the genetic diversity of a pathogen. Fungi also have extra-chromosomal nucleic acid, of which the most common is dsRNA. In some fungi this dsRNA is associated with hypovirulence. An investigation into the presence of dsRNA in the more important tree pathogens in South Africa is being undertaken with the view to using dsRNA as a means of biological control. A number of breakthroughs have already been made on this front.
Prof Brenda Wingfield,
Tel: +27 12 420 3946,
Fax: +27 12 420 3947
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