Abstract
South Africa is blessed with one of the richest floras in the world, which - not surprisingly - includes many poisonous plants. Theiler in the founding years believed that plants could be involved in the aetiologies of many of the then unexplained conditions of stock, such as gousiekte and geeldikkop. His subsequent investigations of plant poisonings largely laid the foundation for the future Sections of Toxicology at the Institute and the Faculty of Veterinary Science (UP). The history of research into plant poisonings over the last 100 years is briefly outlined. Some examples of sustained research on important plant poisonings, such as cardiac glycoside poisoning and gousiekte, are given to illustrate our approach to the subject and the progress that has been made. The collation and transfer of information and the impact of plant poisonings on the livestock industry is discussed and possible avenues of future research are investigated.
Highlights
At the time of the founding of Onderstepoort, Theiler, as the Director, either controlled or had a hand, in most of the research done at the Institute
Theiler can be said to have laid the foundation for the future Sections of Toxicology at the Institute and Faculty (Gutsche 1979; Kellerman, personal observations 2008)
The notable advance in krimpsiekte and plant-induced cardiac glycoside poisoning was the isolation by Naudé & Potgieter (1966) of the toxic principle, a bufadienolide, from Moraea pallida, followed closely by yet another from T. wallichii by Van Rooyen & Pieterse (1968)
Summary
At the time of the founding of Onderstepoort, Theiler, as the Director, either controlled or had a hand, in most of the research done at the Institute He was a man of wide interests and included in these interests was botany. He rightly suspected that some of the unexplained conditions of stock, such as geeldikkop and gousiekte, were plant poisonings. Steyn as pharmacologist cum toxicologist at the Institute He was succeeded by T.F. Adelaar (1948– 1974), T.W. Naudé (1974–1976), T.S. Kellerman (1976–1998), J.P.J. Joubert (1998–2004) and Dharma Naicker (2004 to date), who is currently the Acting Head of the Section. Save for Theiler, all these incumbents knew each other, a state of affairs that held considerable benefits for the Section, as inter alia continuity of purpose was promoted and new appointees never lacked for mentors to guide them in their research
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