Mycotoxicological research in South Africa 1910-2011

The British mycologist, I.B. Pole-Evans, was appointed as the first South African government mycologist in 1905 following the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). The Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute was founded in 1908 with the Swiss veterinarian, Arnold Theiler, as the first director. Thus, the stage was set for the commencement of mycotoxicological research when the Union of South Africa came into being in 1910. The first accounts of this pioneering research appeared in the 'Seventh and eight reports of the Director of Veterinary Research, Union of South Africa. 1918' in which D.T. Mitchell reported on the experimental reproduction of the neurotoxic syndrome, diplodiosis, in cattle with pure cultures of Stenocarpella maydis (= Diplodia zea) isolated by P.A. Van der Bijl and grown on sterile maize kernels. This is the first report of the experimental reproduction of a veterinary mycotoxicosis with a pure culture of a fungus in South Africa and possibly in the world. This seminal research was followed ...