MRC PhD students

Kaizer is a PhD student investigating the antifungal and antimycotoxigenic activities of five selected plant species which are used in traditional medicine.

 Fungi, not only lead to huge production losses during both growth and storage but the metabolites they secrete such as aflatoxins, fumonisins and zearalenone pose a grave hazard to the health and well-being of both man and livestock. Damage to the ears of maize by stalkborers and weevils, among other pests and pathogen vectors as well as drought stress at critical periods of the growing season increase the probability of infestation with Fusarium species leading to contamination with fumonisins. Fumonisins have been implicated in oesophageal cancer in the Transkei region of South Africa as well as in the Cixian and Linxian countries of the People’s Republic of China and are a cause of leukoencephalomalacia in horses. On the other hand, maize left on the ground due to lodging, harvest operation and before storage is predisposed to infection with Aspergillus flavus fungi and aflatoxin contamination. Aflatoxins are field and storage mycotoxins which are potent hepato-carcinogens, mutagens and immuno-suppressing agents.

In the light of the controversies surrounding biotechnological innovations (e.g. GM technology) and the draw-backs of synthetic fungicides as well as the expenses and inaccessibility of both to peasant farmers in rural Africa, this project aims to look at the development and use of plant extracts as agents for the control of pests and pathogens.

He is mentored by Dr David Katerere and co-supervised by Dr Hester Vismer and Prof Norman Nyazema.