INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER ON PLANT PATHOLOGY

(UK Registered Charity No 1065521)

Material for the Newsletter is invited from individual members of ISPP, Associated Societies, Council members, Chairs of all Committees and representatives of Affiliated Societies and Supporting Organisations.

Editors, Joseph-Alexander Verreet, e-mail: javerreet@phytomed.uni-kiel.de
and Elaine Davison, e-mail: edavison@agric.wa.gov.au

In this issue:

• ISPP Task Force on Global Food Security - Initiative in Ghana
• Call for Papers by the Asian Network for Scientific Information
• Plant Pathologists Look to Forensics to Aid in Biosecurity
• Coming Events

ISPP's Task Force on Global Food Security was established after a challenge from the floor during the 7th International Congress of Plant Pathology in 1998. It is described at: http://www.isppweb.org/foodsecurity_background.asp including its five activities:

1. Changing public policy and opinions on global food security;
2. Postgraduate training for plant pathologists in developing countries;
3. Quantification of the economic impact of some major diseases;
4. Farmer training in simple disease management: pilot project for cassava in Ghana;
5. Development of the ISPP Website.

On the occasion of the 8th International Congress, held in Christchurch in 2003, the Task Force issued a Congress Challenge by inviting submissions of ideas that would enable plant pathology to contribute further to the challenge of global food security. See http://www.isppweb.org/foodsecurity_congresschallenge.asp

There was an excellent response to the Challenge: http://www.isppweb.org/foodsecurity_mins1023.asp#congress

After much consideration, the Task Force recommended the Proposal from the Crops Research Institute, Ghana. It is entitled "Development of Appropriate Strategies to Control Cassava Diseases in Ghana".

$50,000 over 3 years has now been awarded to the CSIR Crops Research Institute <http://www.csir.org.gh/cri.html>, Kumasi, Ghana, for this project, coordinated by Dr Emmanuel Moses. It can be summarized as follows.

Objectives:

1. To develop appropriate measures to control root rot disease of cassava.
2. To create and increase farmers awareness to diseases of cassava particularly the root rot caused by Polyporus sulphureus.
3. To train and equip farmers with simple skills that will enable them identify diseases and control them on their farms.
4. To develop simple educational materials on diseases and their control to improve extension delivery.

Expected outputs:

1. Incidence and severity of root rot and other diseases reduced significantly.
2. Yield losses due to root rot and other diseases reduced.
3. Farmers in endemic areas in southern Ghana trained to identify and control diseases.
4. Agricultural Extension agents in endemic areas trained in disease control strategies.
5. Fact sheets on diseases and their control produced.

Beneficiaries:

1. Resource-poor farmers who depend on cassava as a cash and food security crop.
2. Over 80% of 18 million people in Ghana who depend on cassava as a major staple food.
3. Industries that depend on cassava as a raw material.

The project started in April 2004. Reports will be presented annually.

Enquiries about activities of the Task Force will be welcomed by the Chairman, Dr Peter Scott at p.scott@cabi.org

433, St. 5, Sarfraz Colony, Fowara Chowk, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

The Asian Network for Scientific Information ( http://www.ansinet.org) cordially invites you to please submit your valuable research findings for publication in the official journals of the ANSInet.

The objective of this organization is the advancement of science, technology and medicine by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of communication among researchers and professionals world-wide, by providing solutions to their information needs.

Key features:

• Fast Evaluation process
• Immediate publication after acceptance
• A copy of Journal+10 reprints provide to corresponding author
• Research articles highlighted in electronic issue distributed to more than 85,000 life & applied scientists
• Authors can now submit full papers and special reports via online submission system
• Submission through e-mail also accepted.
• Author(s) can now check the status of their manuscript through Online Manuscript Tracking System
• Search in back issues
• Abstracting/Indexing in world known databases
• Full text available online in PDF format

On behalf of the Editorial Committee, I solicit your contribution, support and participation. We are looking forward to receiving your finest and most exciting manuscripts.

M. Imran Pasha, Account Manager

Plant Pathologists Look to Forensics to Aid in Biosecurity

In an effort to protect the nation's crops from possible bioterrorism, plant pathologists are exploring how to apply techniques typically used in crime labs as a tool to fight bioterrorism.

According to Jacqueline Fletcher, plant pathology professor, Oklahoma State University, the potential for microbes to be used with an intent to harm people, societies, or the environment has generated renewed interest in the application of forensic science to assist in precise identification of microbes and their origin. "If a plant disease agent were used for bioterrorism, we would like to trace it to its source. This could help us prevent it from happening again," said Fletcher.

The usual goal of a plant pathologist, which is to effectively manage a disease outbreak, requires identification of a disease agent (pathogen) that is accurate to species or strain. Species-level identification is important in order to understand the disease's epidemiology. Forensic applications, however, require an even higher level of detail and discrimination. "If the goal is to attribute the crime to a specific perpetrator, data must be sufficiently specific to stand up in a court of law," said Fletcher.

New research is needed to expand knowledge on the genetics, evolution, biology, and host reactions of key microbes. "Guidelines for sample collection and attention to non-pathogen contaminants, such as spores or other microorganisms in the samples, are necessary. Research guidelines and policies also ought to be designed to allow legitimate investigators to pursue research without unnecessary intrusion, "Fletcher said.

More on how forensics can be applied to plant health and crop security will be presented during the Microbial Forensics: Plant Pathogen Models symposium at the APS Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif., July 31 - August 4, 2004. The symposium will explore the principles of microbial forensics as they may apply to specific models of plant pathogens and the plant diseases they cause.

Amy Steigman, American Phytopathological Society (APS)

Coming Events

I International Symposium on Humulus, Corvallis, OR, USA
1-8 August 2004
http://www.ars-grin.gov/cor/hopsymposium.htm

88^th Annual Meeting of the Potato Association of America, Scottsbluff, NE, USA
28-31 August 2004
http://www.panhandle.unl.edu/paa

11^th International Conference Root and Butt Rots of Forest Trees, IUFRO Working Party 7.02.01, Poznán, Poland
15-22 August 2004
www.au.poznan.pl/katedra/fl/iufro

ISHS International Symposium on Horticultural Education and Training. Perth, Western Australia
18-21 August 2004
www.ishs.org/cal/et_symp.pdf, or www.muresk.curtin.edu.au/ishs/

11th International Cereal Rust and Powdery Mildew Conference in Norwich, UK.
23-27 August 2004.
Contact: Dr James Brown, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK; Fax: +44-1603-450045; e-mail: <james.brown@bbsrc.ac.uk>.

14^th Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology, Cracow Poland
23-27 August 2004
http://www.zfr-pan.krakow.pl/konf/

17^th International Lettuce and Leafy Vegetable Conference, Longueuil, Quebec, Canada
28-31 August 2004
http://www.cshs.ca/ILLVC2004

International Symposium on Horticultural Economics and Management. Creating Value in a Changing Society, Berlin, Germany
29 August – 3 September 2004
www.agrar.hu-berlin.de/wisola/ishs

6th Australasian Plant Virology Workshop, Goldcoast, Queensland, Australia
30 August-2 September 2004
http://www.australasianplantpathologysociety.org.au/.

European Foundation for Plant Pathology meeting and BSPP Presidential Meeting 2004, ‘Discovery, development and delivery in plant pathology’, Aberdeen, Scotland
5-10 September 2004
www.bspp.org.uk

VIII International symposium on Plum and Prune Genetics, Breeding and Technology Lofthus, Norway
6-9 September 2004
http://www.planteforsk.no/

V International Strawberry Symposium, Brisbane, Australia
5-10 September 2004
greern@dpi.qld.gov.au

III Balkan Symposium on Vegetables and Potatoes, Bursa, Turkey
6-10 September 2004
ozkan@uludag.edu.tr

I International Rose Hip Conference, Gumushane, Turkey
7-10 September 2004
www.atauni.edu.tr/rosehip

Third IUFRO Forest Phytophthora Research Workshop, Freising Germany
11–17 September 2004
carole.lishman@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

International Symposium GREENSYS 2004 – Sustainable Greenhouse Systems: Co-operation of Engineering and Crop Science, Leuven, Belgium
12-16 September 2004
www.greensys2004.nl

V International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding, Decrecen, Hungary
12-17 September 2004
www.ivchb2004.org

International Fusarium Laboratory Workshop, FABI (Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute), University of Pretoria, South Africa
26 September - 2 October 2004
http://fabinet.up.ac.za/fusarium

4^th International Crop Science Congress, Brisbane, Australia
26 September – 4 October 2004
4icsc04@im.com.au

14^th Ornamental Workshop on Diseases and Insects, Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA
27 September – 1 October 2004
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/plantpath/orn_wkshop/ow_index.html

V International Symposium on Olive Growing, Turkey
27 September – 2 October 2004
www.agri.ankara.edu.tr

VI International Symposium on Chemical and Non-Chemical Soil and Substrate Disinfestation, Corfu, Greece
4-8 October 2004
ect@aua.gr

III International Symposium on Persimmon, Jinju, Korea
5-9 October 2004
smk@nongae.gsnu.ac.kr

2^nd International Conference of Powdery Mildew, Pacific Grove (Monterey), California, USA
10-14 October 2004
www.cevs.ucdavis.edu/Cofred/Public/Aca/webSec.cfm?confid=191&webid=926

III International Chestnut Symposium, Chaves, Portugal
20-23 October 2004
http://www.utad.pt/eventos/chestnutcongress

IV ISHS Symposium on Brassica and XIV Crucifer Genetics Workshop, Daejon, Korea
24-28 October 2004
yplim@cnu.ac.kr

XIII International Botrytis Symposium in Antalya, Turkey.
25 -31 October 2004.
contact: Dr. Figen Yildiz <fyildiz@ziraat.ege.edu.tr>.

5th International Walnut Symposium, Sorrento, Naples, Italy
7-14 November 2004
Contact: Emilia Malvolti <mimi@ias.tr.cnr.it

Postharvest Unlimited Downunder Conference 2004, Sydney, Australia
10-12 November 2004
http://www.airah.org.au/postharvest2004

IX International Symposium on Growing Media and Hydroponics, Almeria, Spain
14-19 November 2004
mgavilan@ual.es

International Symposium on Processing Tomatoes, Melbourne, Australia
15-18 November 2004
Http://www.worldtomatocongress.com.au/

II International Symposium on Acclimatization and Establishment of Micropropagated Plants, Cancun, Mexico
22-26 November 2004
http://www.cicy.mx/eventos/simp2004/simposium.htm

Nematode Identification Short Course, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
4-11 December 2004
http://pppweb.clemson.edu/Nematode.htm

2^nd International Symposium of Fusarium Head Blight, Orlando FL, USA
11-15 December 2004
http://www.scabusa.org/fhb_symposium.html

VI International Symposium on Peach, Santiago, Chile
9-13 January 2005
www.peach2005.cl

V International Symposium on Mineral Nutrition of Deciduous Fruit Crops, Talca, Chile
16-21 January 2005
www.fruitmineralnutrition.cl

4^th International Workshop on Grapevine Trunk Diseases, Stellenbosch, South Africa
20-21 January 2005
phfourie@sun.ac.za

X International Symposium on Timing of Field Production in Vegetable Crops, Bonn, Germany
13-17 March 2005
http://www.gartenbauwissenschaft.uni-bonn.de/vegcrop2005

International Plant Virus Epidemiology Symposium, Lima, Peru.
4-8 April 2005
http://www.cipotato.org/training/PlantVirusEpidemSymp05

9^th International Workshop on Plant Disease Epidemiology, Rennes, France
10-15 April 2005
http://www.rennes.inra.fr/epidemio2005/

International Working Groups on Legume and Vegetable Viruses, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
11-15 April, 2005
Contact: Gail Wisler gcwisler@mail.ifas.ufl.edu

International Working Groups on Legume and Vegetable Viruses, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
11-15 April 2005
www.ifa.to.cnr.it/vvwg

IV International Pineapple Symposium, East London, South Africa
11-15 April 2005
www.pinesymp05.org

International Edible Legume Conference in conjunction with the IV World Cowpea Congress, Durban South Africa
17-21 April 2005
http://www.up.ac.za/conferences/ielc

13th Meeting of the Latin American Association of Plant Pathology. Córdoba. Argentina
19-22 April 2005
slenard@infovia.com.ar

III International Symposium on Figs, Faro, Portugal
16-20 May 2005
jleitao@ualg.pt

IV International Symposium on Pistachio and Almond, Tehran, Iran
20-26 May 2005
http://www.pri.ir

XII Mediterranean Phytopathological Union (MPU) Congress, Bari, Italy
21-27 May 2005.
http://www.unifi.it/istituzioni/mpu/XIIMPUCongress/mputabinfo.html

V International Cherry Symposium, Bursa, Turkey
6-10 June 2005
masum_burak@yalova.tagem.gov.tr

XII International Sclerotinia Workshop, Monterey, CA, USA
9-15 June 2005
http://entoplp.okstate.edu/iswg/inex.html

XIII International Symposium on Apricot Breeding and culture, Murcia, Spain
13-17 June 2005
congresos@viajescajamurcia.com

II International Symposium on Sweetpotato and Cassava – 2ISSC, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
14-17 June 2005
http://www.mardi.my

V International Symposium on Artificial Lighting, Aas, Norway
21-24 June 2005
www.lightsym2005.no

X International Symposium on Plant Bioregulators in Fruit Production, Saltillo Coahuila, Mexico
26-30 June 2005
www.saltillo2005.org

IX International Controlled Atmosphere Research Conference, East Lansing, MI, USA
5-10 July 2005
allens@msu.edu

International Symposium on Herbaceous Ornamental Plant Germplasm Conservation and Utilization, Columbus, Ohio, USA
6-9 July 2005
http://opgs.osu.edu

International Symposium on Greenhouse Systems and Energy Conservation, Columbus, Ohio, USA
13-15 July 2005
short.2@osu.edu

International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Cancun, Mexico
17-22 July 2005
www.ismpminet.org

XVII International Botanical Congress (XVII IBC 2005), Vienna, Austria,
18-23 July 2005
website: http://www.ibc2005.ac.at

APS Annual Meeting, Austin TX, USA
30 July-3 August 2005
www.apsnet.org

International Congress of Auchenorrhyncha and Concurrent Workshop on Leafhoppers and Planthoppers of Economic Significance, Berkeley, California, USA
11-15 August 2005
http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/hoppercongress/index

International Conference & Exhibition on Soilless Culture – Singapore 2005, Singapore
1-4 September 2005
www.singaporehydroponics.com

International Symposium on Growing Media, Angers, France
4-10 September 2005
http://ishs-angers.agrena.org/

Potato 2005, Emmeloord, The Netherlands
5-11 September 2005
www.potato2005.com

III International Symposium on Cucurbits, Townsville, QLD, Australia
12-16 September 2005
gordon@ahr,com.au

International Symposium on High Value Indigenous Fruit Trees in the Tropics and subtropics: Production, Utilization and Marketing, Lilongwe, Malawi
20-28 October 2005
f.akinnifesi@cgiar.org

IX International Rubus and Ribes Symposium, Santiago, Chile
5-7 December 2005
pbanados@puc.cl

18^th World Congress of Soil Science, Philadelphia, PA, USA
9-15 July 2006
www.18wcss.org

APS Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
29 July-2 August 2006
www.apsnet.org

APS Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA
28 July-1 August 2007
www.apsnet.org

APS Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, USA
26-30 July 2008
www.apsnet.org

ICPP 2008, Torino, Italy,
24-29 August, 2008
Contact: Prof. M.L. Gullino, University of Torino: marialodovica.gullino@unito.it
http://www.icpp2008.org