​Geneticist Dr Anandi Bierman, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University (SU) is one of many researchers who are trying their best to keep a small pest named the shot hole borer beetle (SHBB) at bay. It landed in KwaZulu-Natal uninvited somewhere during the past decade, probably as part of the cargo of a ship visiting the Durban harbour. Since then (along with a symbiotic fungus which damages trees) it has started spreading country-wide slowly but surely in both garden trees and indigenous trees. Whereas some researchers test methods to combat the beetle, others, such as Bierman, are trying to find out what the insect's genetics can reveal about its distribution.

Bierman is one of two postdoctoral fellows linked to the SU Faculty of AgriSciences who were recently adjudged to be among the top 20 postdoctoral fellows at the University of Stellenbosch. The other is agri-engineer Dr Tobi Fajidi, associated with the Postharvest Technology Research Chair in the Department of Horticultural Science.

Bierman has collected samples of the small insect across South Africa over the past two years (and its symbiotic fungus - the actual cause of the infection and resulting damage to trees). These she has since thoroughly investigated by making use of the latest genome technology.

“It is very likely that the beetle entered the country more than once via shipping cargo, but this we must still ascertain through genetic testing. The genetics can tell us where the beetle comes from, how it spread and how closely related different possible populations in South Africa are to one another."

The beetle was first noticed in 2012 and has since then spread from KwaZulu-Natal as far as Jan Kempdorp, Bloemfontein, the Southern Cape and the Boland.

“It is a really small insect and does not fly very far, but has nevertheless already spread through the whole country."

Bierman cooperates with the Max Planck Institute in Germany to analyse the complete genome of the beetle and its symbiotic fungus.

“Many kinds of beetle species which fortunately are not yet found in South Africa can cause damage similar to that of this borer beetle. We must consider the damage that it and simillar ones can cause if they should also spread."

She says that is why it is important to know where there are issues in the importation system, so that stricter measures can be instituted to limit its spread. It is also necessary to support monitoring programmes such as the Sentinel Project so that information about new invaders can be obtained. This is an initiative of the University of Pretoria's FABI Institute which promotes improved supervision and monitoring of invasive pests and pathogens in the country. It serves as an early warning system for possible problems such as the shot hole borer beetle.

Bierman will be working as postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology until 2022. Her position is funded by the Centre for Invasive Biology, based at SU. 

“Doing a postdoctoral fellowship gives one a great amount of freedom to focus on your research. This is very valuable," she says.

“The best part is that you can be a driver of your profession. Mostly you have space to use your time and interest to also work on other projects except your key research project. This is a very liberating and positive experience.

“There are few places outside the academic field in South Africa where you can do research, especially in molecular sciences.

“It is a privilege to be able to work in a laboratory and follow your absolute passion."

Bierman comes from a family of nature lovers. This Pretorian's interest in genetics already germinated in her matric year when she first learnt about studies about relatedness and heredity in the Biology class at Wonderboom High School. Her future was set when she got full marks for the task they had to do, and she decided to do a BSc in Genetics at the University of Pretoria. She graduated in 2006 and gave her first steps in the research world in her honours year, with a study about the genetic resistance of certain wheat cultivars to the Russian wheat aphid.

Horses were the theme of her master's degree, also at UP. She refined a DNA typing test in which the link between different horses could easily be tested, and also the population dynamics in terms of hybridization of thoroughbred and Arabian horses in South Africa.

For her PhD, this time at SU under supervision of Prof Anna-Maria Botha-Oberholster of the Department of Genetics, she returned to grains. She used new genome sequencing to compile the genome map of the exact gene which ensured that certain grains were not attacked by the Russian wheat aphid.

She obtained her PhD in 2014 – and has since already enjoyed another two postdoctoral fellowships. The first was in the Department of Genetics (once again on grains) and the other on bio-informatics at SU under supervision of Prof Hugh Patterton. She worked on the genetics of certain yeasts, medicinal plants and again resistant wheat, and with the CSIR helped to complete a metagenomic study to analyse the biodiversity of micro-organisms in sewage.  Her postdoctoral work often went hand in hand with lecturing responsibilities.

Over the past decade or more, Bierman has also worked as a senior research assistant at the University of Pretoria's Onderstepoort campus, and was a researcher for AgriProtein Technologies, a company which focuses on insect farming and the development of related products.

“My postdoctoral work might look like a terrible mixed bag of research topics at first glance, extending from new generation genome sequencing and genetic mapping of grains to invasive beetles," Dr Bierman admits. “But underlying all these topics is my fascination with the genetic codes of organisms, and a passion to obtain new skills and knowledge. It also afforded me the opportunity to get to know some of the best people in my field, and to follow my passion."

In this way she has over the years qualified as a certified project manager: “It has really helped me a lot in being able to handle different projects simultaneously."​