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Prof Botma Visser takes on rust diseases threatening South Africa’s wheat

09 September 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Stephen Collett

Safeguarding one of the world’s most vital staple foods was at the heart of the inaugural lecture delivered by Prof Botma Visser, Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of the Free State (UFS), on Wednesday 3 September 2025. Prof Visser shared insights from nearly two decades of research into wheat rust – a devastating crop disease that threatens both South Africa’s harvests and global food security.

“Wheat production in South Africa is threatened by three fungal pathogens that cause rust disease on the crop. Understanding the factors that contribute to virulence on locally grown cultivars is crucial to ensure continued wheat production,” said Prof Visser.

The fight against evolving wheat rusts

For the past 17 years, Prof Visser’s research has focused on the genetic structure of rust populations and the risks they pose to food security. His work has shown that these populations are dynamic and constantly changing due to genetic mutations within existing races, as well as the introduction of new races into South Africa.

“Computer modelling showed that rust can spread over vast distances by prevailing winds. During the 20th Century, at least four Southern African stem rust races managed to move across the Indian Ocean from Southern Africa to Australia. South Africa, in turn, received multiple new races from mid-Africa across Zambia and Zimbabwe, without any means of stopping these introductions,” he explained.

To respond to this challenge, his team recently implemented MARPLE (Mobile And Real-time Plant disEase) diagnostics using fourth-generation nanopore sequencing technology. This approach allows the rapid characterisation of fungal isolates, specifically targeting genes linked to fungicide resistance and virulence.

“This work,” Prof Visser noted, “is part of an effort to safeguard global wheat production.”

His research is a collaborative effort with Prof Willem Boshoff (Department of Plant Sciences, UFS) and Dr Tarekegn Terefe (Agricultural Research Council – Small Grain, Bethlehem). Together, their work has positioned the UFS as an internationally recognised centre of excellence in wheat rust research.

About Prof Botma Visser

Prof Botma Visser obtained his BSc in Botany and Microbiology (1988), BSc Honours in Microbiology (1989), and MSc in Botany (1993) at the University of the Free State, where he also completed his PhD in Botany in 2004.

His career spans more than 18 years of research into wheat rust pathogens, combining annual surveys, race pathotyping, molecular genetics, and cutting-edge sequencing technologies. His expertise has not only advanced understanding of rust population dynamics in South Africa but also contributed to global collaborative studies on crop disease.

News Archive

UFS Law students take on the world

2007-03-25

Back, from left: Prof. Elizabeth Snyman-Van Deventer (Associate Professor at the Department of Mercantile Law, UFS), Lucien Companie, Dee Leboela, Sunette Visser and Mr Jaco Deacon (Lecturer at the Department of Mercantile Law, UFS). Front, from left: Mr Van Aswegen (Naudes Attorneys), Prof Rita-Marie Jansen (Associate Professor at the Department of Private Law, UFS), J.C. Smith and Vicky Olivier.

Photo: Stephen Collett

A team of eight students from the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) will compete in an international arbitration competition in Vienna, Austria, from 30 March to 5 April 2007.

The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot is an annual competition organised by the Institute of International Commercial Law at the Pace University School of Law in New York, USA. The goal of the competition is to foster the study of international commercial law and to train students in methods of alternative dispute resolution.

Students will be judged on two crucial phases: the preparation of memoranda for the claimant and respondent, and the presentation of oral arguments before an arbitral tribunal. “The Moot teaches the basic framework of international arbitration and the application of the uniform sales law to all participating students during the preparation of the memoranda and the oral arguments,” says one of the team members, Dee Leboela, who also took part in last year’s competition.

“This competition definitely prepares students for the legal practice in all facets, whether as advocate, legislator or other areas,” added Deman Smit, one of the team members who also took part last year.

This competition brings together students from a range of legal systems and cultures from all over the world to learn from the process and from each other. “This encourages the development of social competence, and lifelong skills that are needed in our profession, of which social relations play an important role,” says Leboela.

In its maiden participation last year the UFS did not disappoint, with the highest score of 49 out of 50 and the lowest being 38 out of 50. This year the UFS will compete with 178 universities from 51 countries. “With the right strategy, which involves selecting the students on academic merit and excellent advocacy skills, I believe we would make it to the top 32,” says Leboela with confidence.

The UFS team is Leboela, Smit, Lucien Companie, Vicky Olivier, Sunette Visser, Qaqamba Vellem, Hanno Bekker and Lucy Nthotso.

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