Short CV Wijnand Swart was born on 29 May 1958 in Johannesburg. He matriculated at Sir John Adamson High School in Johannesburg in 1975. He obtained the B.Sc. degree (Forestry/Nature Conservation - 1980) and the M.Sc. Agric. (Plant Pathology - 1986) with distinction at the University of Stellenbosch while working as an agricultural scientist for the Department of Agriculture (Plant Protection Research Institute). In 1988, he was appointed as lecturer in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of the Free State. He was subsequently promoted to senior lecturer in 1992, associate professor in 1996 and professor in January 2002. During 1996, while on sabbatical, he worked for 9 months at the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin, USA and during 2001/2 for 5 months at the Kearney Agricultural Center, University of California.
Wijnand is a member of various national and international scientific societies, among which is the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology where he is currently Vice-President. He is a NRF evaluated researcher and has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications in accredited scientific journals and presented more than 130 papers at national and international congresses. He has supervised or co-supervised 12 M.Sc. and 5 Ph.D. candidates. His research during the past 15 years has focussed on opportunistic plant pathogens and insect-fungal relationships with emphasis on diseases of new crops. Area of Expertise In the past 8 years my research has focused on developing an understanding of the biotic interactions that occur between plants and endophytic or latent-infecting fungi (particularly Alternaria, Botryosphaeria, and Fusarium) and, where relevant, insect pests that are associated with these interactions. Studies are conducted within the context of the New Crop Pathology Programme (NCPP) that I supervise in the Department of Plant Pathology at our university where the health and yield of new/alternative crops are studied. Amaranth - a valuable potential food crop for southern Africa – has been used as a model for studying these interactions but other new/alternative crops such as pistachio, hemp, cactus pear, pigeonpea, kenaf and walnut are also being studied. Specific attention is being devoted to the utilisation of both qualitative and quantitative criteria relating to biotic and abiotic entities involved in a particular agroecosystem in order to ascertain the general vitality of the crop/s concerned and possible ways to exploit or manipulate these entities and their interactions to the advantage of the crops. In essence, the objective is to manipulate the effect of biotic and abiotic factors associated with a specific crop system in a specific geographic area as "bio-indicators" and/or “bio-regulators”of the health and potential yield of a crop. The ultimate aim is to maintain or create optimally sustainable conditions for the cultivation of a specific new crop within the context of a holistic plant health management program. Courses PresentedPPG 324 (Integrated Pest Management)
PPG 424 (Plants Diseases Caused by Bacteria and Viruses)
PPG 444 (Host-pathogen Interactions)
PPG 701 (Plant Pathology)
PPG 702 (Plant Pathology)
MVL 714 (Sustainable Agriculture)
Publications (Short List)Chen, Weiqun and Swart, W.J., 2000. First report of stem canker of English walnut caused by Fusarium solani in South Africa. Plant Disease 84: 592
J.T. Blodgett, WJ Swart, SvdM Louw, and WJ Weeks. 2000. Species composition of endophytic fungi in Amaranthus hybridus leaves, petioles, stems and roots. Mycologia 92: 853-859.
W.J. Swart, C. Mathews, & K.B. Saxena. 2000. First report of leaf rust caused by Uredo cajani on pigeonpea in South Africa. Plant Disease 84:1344.
Chen, Wei-Qun, Wijnand J. Swart, & Tielman D. Nieuwoudt, 2000.
A new species of Bipolaris from South Africa. Mycotaxon 76: 149-152
W. J. Swart and J. Terblanche. 2001. First Report of Powdery Mildew of Kenaf Caused by Leveillula taurica in South Africa. Plant Dis. 85:923.
W. J. Swart, M.T. Tesfaendrias, and J. Terblanche. 2001. First Report of Botrytis cinerea on kenaf in South Africa. Plant Dis. 85:1032.
Chen W. Q. and Swart W. J. 2001. Genetic variation among Fusarium oxysporum isolates associated with root rot of Amaranthus hybridus as determined by pathogenicity, isozymes and vegetative compatibility. Plant Disease 85: 1076-1080.
Swart, V.R.; Swart, W.J.; Louw, S.vdM. and Kriel, W-M. 2001. Phytopathogenic fungi associated with Drosophila spp. that utilise Opuntia ficus-indica. Bull of the Royal Entomological Society 26(1):37
Swart, V.R.; Swart, W.J.; Louw, S.vdM. and Kriel, W-M. 2001. Fungal Associations of Lygaeidae and Coreidae utilising Pistacia vera and Cajanas cajan in South Africa. Bull of the Royal Entomological Society 26(1):36
W. J. Swart and W-M. Kriel 2002. Pathogens Associated with Necrosis of Cactus Pear Cladodes in South Africa. Plant Disease 86: 693.
W. J. Swart, M.T. Tesfaendrias and W. Botha. 2002. First Report of Basal Stem Rot caused by Pythium G-group on Kenaf in South Africa. Plant Disease 86: 698.
J.T. Blodgett and WJ Swart 2002. Infection, colonization, and disease of Amaranthus hybridus leaves caused by the Alternaria tenuissima group. Plant Disease 86:1199-1205
Chen W. Q. and Swart W. J. 2002. Phytotoxicity of Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium sambucinum culture filtrates to Amaranthus hybridus and evaluation of amaranth germplasm for resistance. Euphytica 127(1):61-67.
Louw, S. vdM., Swart, W.J., Honiball, S.J., Chen, W. 2002. Weevil-fungus interaction on Amaranthus hybridus in South Africa. African Entomology 10(2):361-364.
W.J. Swart, and V.R. Swart. 2002. The Current Status of Research on Diseases of Opuntia ficus-indica in South Africa. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress on Cactus Pear and Cochineal, A. Nefzaoui and P. Inglese (eds). Acta Horticulturae 581, August 2002, pages 239-245.
Koch, S.H., Ghebremariam, D.S. and Swart, W.J. 2002. Characterization of South African isolates of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides associated with lupin anthracnose on sixteen lupin cultivars. African Plant Protection 8: 51-56
W. J. Swart, M.T. Tesfaendrias and J. Terblanche. 2003. First Report of Sclerotium rolfsii on kenaf in South Africa. Plant Dis. 87:874
W.J. Swart, R.M. Oelofse & M.T. Labuschagne. 2003. Susceptibility of South African cactus pear varieties to four fungi commonly associated with disease symptoms. Journal of the Professional Association for Cactus Development 5:86-97.
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