In this issue:
Phytopathologia Mediterranea
Phytopathologia Mediterranea is an international journal produced by
the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union. The mission of this journal
continues to be to promote plant pathology in the Mediterranean region, to
transfer knowledge on diseases of Mediterranean crops, and to assist in
the diagnosis and management of plant diseases associated with this
region.
The journal deals with the main areas of plant pathology, including
epidemiology, disease management, biochemical and physiological aspects,
application of molecular biology techniques, plant diseases caused by
fungi, protozoa, bacteria, nematodes, phytoplasmas, viruses, viroids, etc.
giving also special attention to research on mycotoxins, biological and
integrated management of plant diseases, and the use of natural substances
in weed control.
The Editorial Board of Phytopathologia Mediterranea has recently been
reorganised, under two Editors-in-Chief and with an increased number of
editors. These include scientists from 16 countries representing highly
respected researchers covering a broad range of expertise.
The journal includes three issues per year in which Review papers,
original Research papers and Short notes are published. New sections have
been added including New or unusual disease reports, News and prospects,
Commentary, Current topics, News and opinions, and Letters to the Editor.
The expanded scope, along with the regular contributions of researchers,
will enhance achievement of the Journal's goal of being an active
communication and discussion forum on all aspects of plant pathology,
especially relating to Mediterranean plants, but also more broadly across
all facets of the plant pathology discipline. The journal also accepts
Book reviews of interest for Mediterranean plant pathologists.
Papers are published in English.
Phytopathologia Mediterranea is covered by CAB, BIOSIS, AGRIS, Chemical
Abstracts, CSA and Scopus and many other databases. It is included in the
Journal Citation Reports, with an ISI Impact Factor of 0.446 in the
subject category Plant Sciences.
The journal is fully accessible on-line at www.fupress.com/pm,
where on-line paper submission is available.
See http://www.isppweb.org/
for more information about the journal. The web-site of the Mediterranean
Phytopathological Union at www.mpunion.com
is being re-developed.
Laura Mugnai and Richard Falloon, Co-Editors-in-Chief.
What is New in Rhizoctonia Research
A consortium consisting of North American and international scientists
in the Rhizoctonia community is actively involved in a collaborative
project to obtain a high quality complete genome sequence of the soil
fungus R. solani anastomosis group 3 (AG-3), strain Rhs1AP. This fungus is
a competitive saprobe and an important pathogen of food crops in the plant
family Solanaceae. In addition to its economic importance as a plant
pathogen, the fungus and its closely related species can often form
beneficial associations with early diverging land plants, lichens, and
orchids. Sanger and 454 Titanium pyrosequencing methods have provided
approximately 16X coverage of the genome with average read lengths of 709
and 383 bp, respectively. The genome size is at least 80 Mb based on
estimates from a recently constructed optical map that suggests there are
24 chromosomes ranging in size from 1.0 to 6.2 Mb. The optical restriction
map of the fungal chromosomes is currently being used to validate the
genome assembly. Repetitive sequences in the genome have been identified
and microsatellite-based genetic markers for population genetics studies
are available to the community on the website http://www.rsolani.org.
To better characterize the transcriptome of R. solani, cDNA libraries
obtained from experimental conditions related to the biology and ecology
of the fungus are currently being sequenced with the SOLiD platform. These
data are being used to determine transcript abundance, splice variants and
small RNAs and to aid in the assembly and annotation process.
Marc Cubeta, North Carolina State University, and member of the ISPP
Rhizoctonia Subject Matter Committee. For information: http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/barleypath/rhizoc/.
4th International Symposium on Rhizoctonia - ISPP
SMC report
The 4th International Symposium on Rhizoctonia was held in August 2008
at the Humboldt Universität Berlin (HUB) located in the centre of Berlin,
Germany. The Symposium attracted 130 international researchers and
industry professionals who conduct research on Rhizoctonia species
complex. The program focused on genetics and taxonomy, detection, disease
control and management, molecular technologies and innovations,
epidemiology and plant-pathogen interaction with special attention to
functional genomics, proteomics and metabolomics. These topics were
addressed in lectures and poster sessions and were attended by graduate
students and leaders in research and industry. The symposium truly
provided a unique opportunity for researchers and teachers as well as
government and industry researchers and extension personnel to network and
share information on the latest issues on Rhizoctonia research. The
program for the symposium can be downloaded from the website of the ISPP
Rhizoctonia Subject Matter Committee at http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/barleypath/rhizoc/.
Suha Jabaji, Chair of the ISPP Rhizoctonia Subject Matter Committee.
See: http://www.isppweb.org/about_subject.asp?SMC=Rhizoctonia.
Update on ISPP/Springer Journal
The second issue of the new journal "Food Security" is
on-line. See: http://www.springerlink.com/content/121319.
It originated from ISPP in a joint venture with Springer, and is subtitled
"The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access
to Food". It documents some of the multiple causes of food
insecurity, as outlined in an article by Dr Richard Strange, the Editor of
"Food Security", in the May issue of the ISPP Newsletter.
Richard Strange welcomes submissions for publication in the journal
that are directly relevant to food security. For instructions about
submission, see http://www.springer.com/life+sci/agriculture/journal/12571.
Members of ISPP, or one of its Associated Societies, qualify for
individual online access for just 25 Euros (excluding Value Added Tax);
see http://www.isppweb.org/about_fs_flyer.asp.
Peter R Scott, Chair, ISPP Food Security Taskforce, CAB INTERNATIONAL,
Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 8DE, UK. Tel: +44-1491-832111, Fax:
+44-1491-833508.
Norman Borlaug's First 30 Years
Volume 1 of Noel Vietmeyer's series of biographies of Norman Borlaug
has been published recently. Entitled "Borlaug, the Mild-Mannered
Maverick Who fed a Billion People" with the sub-title "Right off
the Farm, 1914 - 1944", it has 278 pages and includes more than 60
photographs showing the amazing events of Borlaug's first 30 years. It
highlights his formative era and the many crises and consequences for his
later Nobel-winning work.
A longtime National Academy of Sciences staff member, Noel Vietmeyer,
worked with Norman Borlaug on various studies dealing with new crops for
developing countries.
Noel was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1940. He received a BSc
degree from the University of Otago in 1963 and a PhD from the University
of California, Berkeley, in 1966, where he remained a lecturer in
Chemistry. In 1969 he received a NIH Fellowship at Stanford University and
began his career as a researcher, with over 150 peer reviewed and popular
publications to his credit. Noel joined the staff of the National Academy
of Sciences in Washington, DC, in 1970. For the next 25 years he oversaw
more than 40 Academy reports that exposed innovations that could help the
needy areas of the world. Many drew international attention to
particularly promising tropical plants, such as amaranth, winged bean,
quality-protein maize, vetiver, jojoba, neem and leucaena. Other volumes
included Lost Crops of the Incas, Lost Crops of Africa, and Tropical
Legumes.
During his times with Borlaug, Noel recorded several hundred of
Borlaug's personal stories. The first 100 or so appear in Volume 1 of his
biography. For ISPP members, Noel has written the following about this
volume.
Although it can be read at many levels, the book primarily shows an
everyday guy emerging from a subsistence farm in rural Iowa and passing
through trials and tribulations to develop the character and commitment
that made him a dedicated humanitarian, not to mention plant pathologist
and wheat breeder.
He does not begin working with wheat until Volume 2 (due out in
October); here, he pours his energies into being a great forester. Wheat
disease, nonetheless, plays a prominent part. Chapter 1 begins with stem
rust taking down the wheat cultivar Marquis and creating food shortages
during World War I (the Borlaugs like most Americans and Canadians had to
live on corn bread). A subsequent chapter highlights Borlaug's professor,
E C Stakman, breeding the rust-resistant wheats that kept North America
and Britain well fed during World War II.
The book has the power to impress on general readers the importance of
plant pathology. Philip Northover of Manitoba Agriculture writes: " .
. . my wife (who had never heard of Norman Borlaug . . . and who has no
plant pathology or even a science background) started reading the book,
and has enjoyed it thoroughly."
Borlaug grew up during turbulent times and that background is
seamlessly interwoven throughout the book, a feature adding to its
popularity with professionals. Ronald Phillips of the University of
Minnesota writes: "I had heard several of Borlaug's stories over the
years in my interactions with him, but you added great depth to them by
writing about what was going on in the world that took him in the various
directions. Congratulations on writing such an engaging book."
As an introductory special, copies are currently available at half
price (US$10.00 plus shipping and handling). The book is available
from Amazon.com but ISPP members can get details or place
orders by emailing me at noelvi@cox.net.
Noel Vietmeyer, 5921 River Drive, Lorton, VA 22079, USA.
Analysis on "Biotech Crops" in Developing
Agriculture
A review about the economic impacts of "biotech crops" in
developing agriculture over the decade to 2007 has been published by the
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The review is based
on French, Spanish and English language literature, which had been
published after peer-review and which possesses a stated method applied to
empirical data from developing economies. Economic analyses are done in
separate chapters for impacts on farmers, consumers, the sector and
international trade. Clear indications of economic success are unlikely to
emerge from a process of this type in the first ten years of the use of
the new crops, however, the promise of some ventures accompanies specified
needs for further investigations.
The citation is "Smale M, Zambrano P, Gruère G, Falck-Zepeda J,
Matuschke I, Horna D, Nagarajan L, Yerramareddy I and Jones H. (2009).
Measuring the Economic Impacts of Transgenic Crops in Developing
Agriculture during the First Decade: Approaches, Findings, and Future
Directions. (Food policy review 10) Washington, D.C.: International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 107 pages."
The review is available at http://www.ifpri.org/
after following "Publications", "Browse IFPRI
Publications", "by Publication Type" and "Food Policy
Reviews" in succession.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks
sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI is one of 15
centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR), an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and
international and regional organizations.
An Overview of ProMED Plant Disease Reports in 2008
Dr Dagmar Hanold, the ProMED-mail Plant Moderator, produced an overview
of activity in 2008. The overview is organised under four sub-headings.
One gives the outcomes of a ProMED-plant user survey, which was done for
the first time in the history of the system. Another refers to the
improved access to plant disease reports which are now separated from the
many other disease reports on the web-site, as described in the ISPP
Newsletter for February 2009. A third gives a summary of the plant reports
for 2008, and a fourth lists selected plant disease highlights during the
year ending with novel plant pathogens and new strains of several fungal
pathogens. The overview may be seen by clicking
here.
A Discovery about Priming in Systemic Resistance
A paper in a recent issue of the journal "Science" makes an
interesting advance in understanding signalling and priming in the process
of systemic resistance to disease in plants. It includes the discovery of
azelaic acid as a new component in this process.
The work was with Arabidopsis and bacterial infection. Infection was
found to cause increased accumulation of azelaic acid which is mobile in
the vascular sap. Azelaic acid is a nine-carbon dicarboxylic acid and it
confers local and systemic resistance against Pseudomonas syringae.
Azelaic acid is reported to act by priming the plant upon infection to
accumulate salicylic acid, which is a known defence signal.
Mutation of the AZI1 gene, which is induced by azelaic acid, resulted
in the loss of systemic resistance triggered by the pathogen or by azelaic
acid and of the priming of SA accumulation. The predicted secreted protein
AZI1 is found to be important for generating vascular sap that confers
resistance. Overall the paper indicates that azelaic acid and AZI1 are
components of plant systemic resistance and involved in priming defences.
The citation is Jung H W, Tschaplinski T J, Wang L, Glazebrook J and
Greenberg J T (2009). Priming in Systemic Plant Immunity. Science 324
(5923) 89-91.
International Plant Protection Symposium
The 5th International Plant Protection Symposium (IPPS) will be held at
Debrecen University, Hungary, in October 2009 (see "Coming
Events"), and follows others at three-yearly intervals since
1997. The Symposium will address modern crop protection issues in a
practice-oriented and integrative manner. Crop protection problems and
technical solutions from different parts of the world will be compared and
discussed by representatives from agro-industry, the chemical industry and
governments etc. The major aim of Symposium is to initiate a dialogue and
to bridge the gap between indigenous knowledge systems and science and
technology.
Themes are broad and multiple, as are the ideas and perspectives
brought by participants from across the planet. Additional topics to be
discussed are welcome. The organisers keep on trying to create a tradition
of the Symposium, aiming to blend results of present-day science and crop
protection practice with the best in local hospitality which will be given
in generous measure by the famous city of the Great Hungarian Plain,
Debrecen http://www.debrecen.hu
and its ancient University http://www.unideb.hu.
On the afternoon of 20 October, there will be a Pre-conference Workshop
on Botrytis cinerea, being the first symposium in Hungary dealing with the
physiology, genetics, and population biology besides the plant
pathological importance of this mould.
In the morning of 21 October, there will be a Plenary session on
Influence of Climate Change and Invasive Species on Plant Protection. The
afternoon will be a poster session and parallel sessions on Applied
Entomology, Plant Pathology, Weed Science and Integrated Pest Management.
On 22 October, an excursion will cover the famous sights and history of
Nagyvarad (Oradea), an ancient Hungarian town belonging to Romania since
1922.
Other information and registration form: http://portal.agr.unideb.hu/tanszekek/novenyvedelmi/sajat_oldalak/index.
Professor G J Kovics, Secretary of Symposium, kovics@agr.unideb.hu.
Microbes and Sago Starch Safety in PNG
The final report of an ACIAR project entitled "Microbial
contaminants associated with sago processing and storage in Papua New
Guinea" by Jeffrey Warner, Andrew Greenhill and Mary Fletcher was
published by ACIAR in June 2009.
Sago starch from Metroxylon sagu is an important staple
carbohydrate for many rural lowland Papua New Guinean communities,
particularly those where soil fertility is poor and where access to
alternatives is limited. The safety and security of sago starch has been
questioned. This project was undertaken to determine the extent and
significance of microbial contamination in village-derived sago starch.
Sago starch was found to harbour a variety of fungi in the genera
Aspergillus, Penicillium, Trichoderma and Fusarium. Post-harvest storage
methods with optimised fermentation were found to be critical for its safe
storage for human consumption. A village applicable hazard and critical
control point analysis was undertaken, presented as "Six Steps to
Safe Sago Starch" and widely disseminated to village communities and
health centres. It is hoped that this more optimal post harvest production
of village derived sago starch will result in a safer and more secure
staple for rural Papua New Guineans.
See: http://www.aciar.gov.au/publication/FR2009-18.
Coming Events
International Conference on Fungal Evolution and Charles Darwin:
"From Morphology to Molecules" at the Thailand Science Park,
Pathumthani, Thailand. 9-11 July 2009. See: http://www.biotec.or.th/darwinconf2009.
14th International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions in
Québec City, Canada. 19-23 July 2009. See: www.ismpminet.org/meetings.
APS Annual Meeting 2009 at the Portland Convention Center, Portland,
Oregon, USA. 1-5 August 2009. See: http://www.apsnet.org.
14th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference and 11th SABRAO Conference
in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia. 10-14 August 2009. See: http://www.plantbreeding09.com.au/.
Ist All Africa Horticultural Congress: "Grown Under the Sun"
at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. 31 August-3 September.
See: http://www.globalhort.org/news-events/all-africa-horticulture-congress/.
IX International Symposium on Thysanoptera and Tospoviruses at Sea
World Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. 31 August-4 September
2009. See: http://www.istt09.org/content/view/13/27/.
10th International Cotton Conference "Natural Fibres-Their
Attractiveness in Multidirectional Applications" in Gdynia, Poland.
3-4 September 2009. See: http://www.gca.org.pl/x.php/2,326/10th-International-Cotton
Conference.html.
2nd World Seed Conference "Responding to the Challenges of the
Changing World: The Role of New Plant Varieties and High Quality Seed in
Agriculture" at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. 8-10 September 8-10,
2009. See: http://worldseedconference.org/en/worldseedconference/home.html.
"Genetics 100 Years On" a symposium at the John Innes Centre,
Norwich, UK. 9-11 September 2009. See: http://www.jic.ac.uk/centenary/events/Genetics100YearsOn/.
BSPP Presidential Meeting 2009 "Darwin to Disease; Crops and their
pathogens" - Celebrating Darwin's 200th Birthday - University Museum,
Oxford, UK. 22 September 2009. See: http://www.bspp.org.uk/.
Annual Meeting of SIPAV, the Italian Society for Plant Pathology, in
Locorotondo, Bari, Italy. 28 September-1 October 2009.
APPS 2009 "Plant Health Management-An Integrated Approach" at
the Civic Precinct, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. 30 September-2 October
2009. See: http://www.apps2009.org.au/.
Agriculture: Africa's "Engine for Growth - Plant Science &
Biotechnology hold the Key" at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts,
UK. 12-14 October 2009. See: www.aab.org.uk/contentok.php?id=83&basket=wwsshowconfdets.
The 13th World Forestry Congress (Forests in development - a vital
balance) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 18-25 October 2009. See http://www.wfc2009.org/index_1024.html.
E-mail: info@wfc2009.org.
CABI Global Summit-food security in a climate of change-in London, UK.
19-21 October, 2009. See: http://www.cabi.org/foodsecurity.
5th International Plant Protection Symposium (IPPS) at Debrecen
University, Hungary. 20-22 October 2009. Contact: G J Kovics, Secretary of
Symposium, kovics@agr.unideb.hu.
9th International Congress on Plant Molecular Biology in St Louis,
Missouri, USA. 25-30 October 2009. Contact: ipmb2009@missouri.edu.
See: www.ipmb2009.org.
The 10th Arab Congress of Plant Protection in Beirut, Lebanon. 26-30
October 2009. See also flyer linked from an item in the May 2009
Newsletter. Contact: aspp@terra.net.lb
or acpp2009@cnrs.edu.lb.
"First International Conference of Mycops" in the Institute
of Mycology and Plant Pathology, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
9-11 November 2009. Contact: Professor Dr Rukshana Bajwa director@mpp.pu.edu.pk
or the Conference Secretary Dr Sarwar Alam drssalam@yahoo.com.
British Crop Production Council, BCPC Congress 2009, at the Scottish
Exhibition & Conference Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom. 9-11 November
2009. See: www.bcpccongress.com.
The 2009 International Conference on Horticulture in Bangalore,
Karnataka, India. 9-12 November 2009. See: http://www.pnasf.org/ich2009.htm.
5th International Conference on Plant Pathology, with the theme
"Plant pathology in the globalized era", at the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. 10-13 November 2009.
Contact: ipsdis@indiatimes.com
or ipsdis@yahoo.com.
2009 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum in Orlando, Florida, USA. 7-9
December 2009. See: http://www.scabusa.org/forum09.html.
For more information, contact: scabusa@scabusa.org.
National Soybean Rust Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 9-11
December 2009. Contact: dorrance.1@osu.edu.
7th International Workshop on Grapevine Trunk Diseases in Santa Cruz,
Chile. 17-21 January 2010. Click
here to access the 1st circular.
Global Biosecurity 2010, Safeguarding Agriculture and the Environment,
at the Brisbane Convention Center, Queensland, Australia. 23 February-3
March 2010. See: www.globalbiosecurity2010.com.
Phytophthora Diseases in Forest Trees and Natural Ecosystems - 5th
Meeting of the IUFRO Working Group in Rotorua, New Zealand. 7-12 March
2010. Queries to Pam Taylor, phone: +64-7-3435727, Fax: +64-7-3480952.
Email: pam.taylor@scionresearch.com.
13th Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union in Rome,
Italy. 13-18 June 2010. See: www.mpunion.com.
Contact: laura.mugnai@unifi.it.
12th IUPAC International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry in Melbourne,
Australia. 4-8 July 2010. See: http://www.iupacicpc2010.org/.
9th International Mycological Congress (IMC9) in Edinburgh, Scotland,
UK. 1-6 August 2010. See: http://www.imc9.info/.
APS Annual Meeting 2010 at Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 7-11
August 2010. See: http://www.apsnet.org.
International Plant Virus Epidemiology Symposium in Cornell, New York,
USA. 20-24 June 2010. See: http://www.isppweb.org/ICPVE/.
Contact: Professor Alberto Fereres at afereres@ccma.csic.es.
XXVIII International Horticultural Congress (IHC2010) in Lisbon,
Portugal. 22-27 August 2010. Contact: info@ihc2010.org.
See: http://www.ihc2010.org.
The 8th International Conference on Pseudomonas syringae and Related
Pathogens in Oxford, UK. 31 August-3 September 2010. See: www.reading.ac.uk/Psyringae2010.
Contact: syringae2010@plants.ox.ac.uk.
The 18th Biennial Australasian Plant Pathology Meeting and 4th Asian
Conference for Plant Pathology, a Joint Conference, at the Darwin
Convention Centre, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. 27-29 April
2011. Watch: http://www.australasianplantpathologysociety.org.au/.
Joint Meeting of APS and IAPPS in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 6-10 August
2011. See: http://www.apsnet.org.
10th International Congress of Plant Pathology 2013 (ICPP2013)
"Bio-security, Food Safety and Plant Pathology: The Role of Plant
Pathology in a Globalized Economy" in Beijing, China. 25-31 August
2013. Watch: http://www.isppweb.org/congress.asp.
