Duduzile Marengwa

The research background of Ms. Marengwa has been rooted around medicinal plants. Her MSc project focused on the medicinal value of the Asteraceae family in treatment of respiratory tract infections, investigating the phytochemistry, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory activities of the chosen plant species. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Johannesburg and her project aims at investigating the antidiabetic potential of South African herbal mixtures through a multi-faceted approach that integrates LC-MS-based metabolomics, and to identify bioactive compounds that could lead to the development of novel therapeutic agents for diabetes treatment. Additionally, she seeks to establish quality control methods to reduce adulteration and falsification and standardise the preparation of herbal mixtures.

As part of CropPrime, Ms. Marengwa spent around 2 months at BC-CAS in the Czech Republic. During this time her research was devoted to investigating the effect of laminarin, a MAMP β-glucan obtained from brown algae, which was employed to mimic pathogen attack and induce immune responses (reactive oxygen species production), the deposition of callose in the cell walls, and the activation of MAP kinases (MAPKs). This study focused on evaluating the responses of four Arabidopsis thaliana genotypes treated with laminarin and found differences in their immune responses. The findings support the hypothesis that genetic variability influences significantly the ability of a plant to detect and utilize MAMPs, hence shedding light on the molecular basis of pattern-triggered immunity in A. thaliana.