The Royal Academy of South Africa and the Academy of Science of South Africa invite you to a webinar on ‘Hidden in Plain Sight: Uncovering South Africa’s Unknown Fungi’ by A/Professor Cobus Visagie, Associate Professor: FABI, University of Pretoria; Co-director: National Grain Research Platform; UP Research Chair in Fungal Biodiversity.
Abstract: Fungi are everywhere: in our soils, food, homes and even our bodies, yet most remain unknown to science. Only around 150,000 of an estimated 2.5 million species have been named, and South Africa, despite being a global biodiversity hotspot, is no exception. This talk introduces MUFASA (Mapping Unseen Fungi Across South Africa), a programme that combines field surveys, living culture collections, DNA-based identification and genomics to ask which fungi occur where, and why. Using familiar moulds such as Penicillium as an example, I show how modern taxonomy turns this hidden diversity into knowledge that can benefit agriculture, health and the bioeconomy.
About the Speaker: Cobus Visagie is an Associate Professor at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, and holds the UP Research Chair in Fungal Biodiversity. He is also co-director of the National Grain Research Platform. His research focuses on fungal biodiversity, ecology, phylogenetics, taxonomy, and identification, particularly within Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Talaromyces. He has published 89 peer-reviewed papers with over 11,000 citations and has received the Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher and Johanna Westerdijk awards. He also holds a National Research Foundation B-rating. Prof Visagie has developed internationally recognized fungal species and DNA reference resources, serves on leading mycology editorial boards and commissions, and leads major projects on fungal diversity, genomics, mycotoxins, novel fungal compounds, and fungal pathogens affecting human health. He currently leads MUFASA (Mapping Unseen Fungi Across South Africa), a five-year national survey of fungal diversity funded by an Oppenheimer Memorial Trust New Frontiers Research Award, which combines culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. His other projects include whole-genome sequencing of the CMW culture collection at FABI, grain-focused research on foliar diseases and mycotoxins, the EU-funded MycoBiomics 2.0 project exploring novel fungal compounds, and the Wellcome Trust-funded CryptoADAPT project on how Cryptococcus adapts to cause human disease in Africa.
Date: TUESDAY 20th October 2026
Time: 17h00
ALL WELCOME – PLEASE FORWARD TO COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS
– a video of this talk will appear on our website about a week after the event.
Website: www.royalsocietysa.org.za
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