Following the completion of his PhD in molecular biology (2008), Morne has actively been focused on interdisciplinary research. This is achieved through leveraging his expertise in genetics and genomics while using next generation sequencing and bioinformatics as his tools of the trade. He is particularly interested in unravelling the genetics of interactions between organisms and the role of this in a wildlife conservation context. To date he has explored a wide range of taxa, interrogating genomes of humans, various wildlife species, and both individual microbes and microbial communities alike. He is focused on producing research outputs that has the potential for downstream applications and has contributed to areas such as: developing markers / resources for wildlife diversity analyses in conservation and forensics, identifying gene candidates / targets for biotechnological applications, as well as using genetics approaches to advancing the health space.

Conservation Genetics:

Botha, D., du Plessis, M., Siebert, F. and Barnard, S., 2023. Introducing an rbc L and a trn L reference library to aid in the metabarcoding analysis of foraged plants from two semi-arid eastern South African savanna bioregions. Plos one, 18(5), p.e0286144

Phukuntsi, M.A., Du Plessis, M., Dalton, D.L., Jansen, R., Sauther, M.L., Cuozzo, F.P. and Kotze, A., 2021. Population and genetic structure of a male-dispersing strepsirrhine, Galago moholi (Primates, Galagidae), from northern South Africa, inferred from mitochondrial DNA. Primates, pp.1-9.

Adawaren, E.O., Du Plessis, M., Suleman, E., Kindler, D., Oosthuizen, A.O., Mukandiwa, L. and Naidoo, V., 2020. The complete mitochondrial genome of Gyps coprotheres (Aves, Accipitridae, Accipitriformes): phylogenetic analysis of mitogenome among raptors. PeerJ, 8, p.e10034.

Phukuntsi MA, Du Plessis M, Dalton DL, Jansen,R, Cuozzo, Sauther ML and Kotze A. (2020). Population genetic structure of the thick-tailed bushbaby (Otolemur crassicaudatus) from the Soutpansberg Mountain range, Northern South Africa, based on four mitochondrial DNA regions. Mitochondrial DNA Part A, 31:1, 1-10, DOI: 10.1080/24701394.2019.1694015

du Toit Z, Dalton DL, du Plessis M. (2019) et al. Isolation and characterization of 30 STRs in Temminck’s ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) and potential for cross amplification in other African species. J Genet 99, 20 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-020-1176-0

Madisha MT., Du Plessis M., Kotze A and Dalton DL. (2019). Complete mitochondrial genomes of the African clawless (Aonyx capensis) and spotted necked (Hydrictis maculicollis) otter: structure, annotation, and interspecies variation. Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 4(1), 1556-1557.

du Toit, Z., Du Plessis, M., Dalton, DL., Jansen, R., Grobler JP.,  and Kotzé, A. (2017). Mitochondrial genomes of African pangolins and insights into evolutionary patterns and phylogeny of the family Manidae. BMC Genomics – online (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-017-4140-5)

Du Plessis, M., Dalton, DL., Smit-Robinson, HA., and Kotze, A. (2017). Next generation sequencing yields the mitochondrial genome of the critically endangered Sarothrura ayresi (white-winged flufftail). Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 2(1), 236-237.

Leach, J., Keyster, M., Du Plessis, M., Ludidi, N. (2010). Nitric oxide synthase activity is required for development of functional nodules in soybean. Journal of Plant Physiology. 167, 1584-1591.

Keyster, M., Klein, A., Du Plessis, M., Jacobs, A., Kappo, A., Kocsy, G., Galiba, G., and Ludidi, N.(2013). Capacity to control oxidative stress-induced caspase-like activity determines the level of tolerance to salt stress in two contrasting maize genotypes. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum. 35, 31-40.

Microbial / Microbiome Genetics:

Makhalanyane TP, Bezuidt OK, Pierneef RE, Mizrachi E, Zeze A, Fossou RK, Kouadjo CG, Duodu S, Chikere CB, Babalola OO, Klein A, Keyster M, du Plessis M, Yorou NS, Hijri M, Rossouw T, Kamutando CN, Venter S, Moleleki LN &  Murrell C. African microbiomes matter. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2023 Jun 16:1-3.

Mugwanda, K., Hamese, S., Van Zyl, W.F., Prinsloo, E., Du Plessis, M., Dicks, L.M. and Thimiri Govinda Raj, D.B., 2023. Recent advances in genetic tools for engineering probiotic lactic acid bacteria. Bioscience Reports, 43(1), p.BSR20211299.

Fisher, S., De Villers, D., Du Plessis, M., Hattingh, K., Saulse, C., Basson, G., Barker, A., Innalegwu Daniel, A., Al-Hashimi, A., Hitzeroth, A. and Makhalanyane, T., 2022. Draft Whole-Genome Sequence of Penicillium simplicissimum A4, a Putative Endophyte from Echium plantagineum. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 11(11), pp.e00854-22

Chan, W.Y., Mtshali, P.S., Grobbelaar, A., Moolla, N., Mohale, T., Lowe, M., Du Plessis, M., Ismail, A. and Weyer, J., 2022. Coding-Complete Genome Sequences for Two Confirmed Monkeypox Cases in South Africa 2022. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 11(12), pp.e00802-22.

Wagener C, du Plessis M and Measey J. (2020).  Invasion dynamics shape the gut microbiome of a widely introduced toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis). Submission to Molecular Ecology. (MEC-20-1330)

Istain, B., Mokgokong, P.S., Wu, R., Mia, J., Gokul, A., Mendoza-Cozatl, D., Du Plessis, M. and Keyster, M., 2021. Draft Genome Sequence of the Putative Endophytic Bacterium Pantoea agglomerans R6, Associated with Lactuca serriola from South Africa. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 10(10), pp.e00023-21.

Loots, AK., Du Plessis, M., Dalton, DL., Mitchell, E., and Venter, EH. (2017). Genome sequences of three vaccine strains and two wild-type canine distemper virus strains from a recent disease outbreak in South Africa. Genome Announcements, 5(27), e00603-17.

Human Genetics:

Beiswanger, C.M., Abimiku, A.L., Carstens, N., Christoffels, A., de Vries, J., Duncanson, A., du Plessis, M., Giovanni, M., Littler, K., Mulder, N. and Troyer, J. 2017. Accessing biospecimens from the H3Africa consortium. Biopreservation and Biobanking, 15(2), pp.95-98

Roberts, L., Ratnapriya, R., Du Plessis, M., Chaitankar, V., Swaroop, A., Ramesar, R. (2016). Molecular Diagnosis of Inherited Retinal Diseases in Indigenous African Populations by Whole-Exome Sequencing. Investigative Opthalmology and Visual Science. 57, 6374-6381.

Du Plessis, M., Pearce, BC., Jacobs C., Hoosain, N., Benjeddou M. (2015). Genetic polymorphisms of the organic cation transporter 1 gene (SLC22A1) within the Cape Admixed population of South Africa. Molecular Biology Reports. 42 (3),  665-672.

Jacobs, C., Pearce, B., Du Plessis, MG., Hoosain, N., and Benjeddou, M. (2015). Single nucleotide polymorphisms of the SLC22A2 gene within the Xhosa population of South Africa. Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics. 30 (6), 457-460

1. Developing eDNA approaches toward understanding macroinvertebrate (dragonfly) diversity for conservation management.
2. Optimising reduced-representation sequencing techniques (eg RADseq) to enhance the exploration of wildlife population genetics, in a conservation context.
3. Characterizing wildlife host-microbe interactions, with a view to identify contributors to species fitness (part of this work looks at using zebrafish as model system).
4. Developing the area of biodiversity informatics, with respect to enhancing the contributions of genetics and genomics data to the field. (In collaboration with SANBI-GBIF).
5. To develop research capacity in next generation sequencing, bioinformatics and wildlife genomics on a national scale.
6. Utilzing the techniques and research outomes from these projects to develop tools, applications or technologies that address real-world issues.