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.
Editor: Brian J Deverall,
(bdeveral@usyd.edu.au)
In this issue:
Return of the Newsletter
This is the first issue since October 2006. Towards producing this
issue, The Editor thanks members of the ISPP Executive and a former editor
Elaine Davison for contributing information.
Current
major activities of ISPP
One current activity of ISPP is the forthcoming Ninth International
Congress of Plant Pathology in Torino, Italy, in August 2008 (see
"Coming Events") with ISPP Vice-President M Lodovica Gullino (marialodovica.gullino@unito.it)
as Chairperson. Two other activities include the Challenge Programme and
the development of an International Journal on Food Security, both arising
from initiatives of Dr Peter Scott as ISPP President from 1998-2003, now
Immediate Past-President of ISPP and Chairman of the ISPP Task Force on
Global Food Security (www.isppweb.org/foodsecurity_background.asp).
ISPP's Membership of IUBS
ISPP is one of the Scientific Members of the International Union of
Biological Sciences (IUBS), and thus has the following benefits and
responsibilities:
Benefits include:
- representation at triennial IUBS
General Assemblies and Scientific Symposia
- right to vote on all
scientific matters (but not administrative matters)
- venues to inform
governments, societies and individuals about international programmes
- interest-free loans for building international symposia, conferences and
workshops · grants to initiate international research activities
- facilitation of liaisons between national and international organisations
- facilitation of cooperation with international agencies (e.g. UNESCO,
WHO, UNEP, CBP, FAO) and NGOs
- access to "Biology
International," the IUBS periodical
- no dues or other costs to
Scientific Members.
Responsibilities include:
- to produce a report on
international activities for each triennial General Assembly
- to
encourage involvement in IUBS activities
- to initiate appropriate
programmes for IUBS sponsorship or endorsement
- to transmit suggestions,
concerns and issues to the IUBS Executive Committee. IUBS Meeting and ISPP
Visit to Washington DC
IUBS
Meeting and ISPP Visit to Washington DC
Further to the two immediate items above, members of the ISPP Executive
attended the 29th IUBS General Assembly and International Conference on
Biological Sciences for the 21st Century. This was held in Washington
D.C., USA, from 9-13 May 2007.
The General Assembly and International Conference was attended by more
than 150 researchers coming from several countries. The topics covered
were biological sciences and the challenge of sustainability;
biocomplexity; computational biology; advances in molecular techniques;
advances in integrating knowledge; advances in capacity building. Of
special interest to ISPP were the sessions devoted to the Challenge of
Food Security and the Challenge of Population Health. The Proceedings of
the Conference will become available on the IUBS web site (www.iubs.org).
The visit to Washington D.C. also provided the opportunity to acquaint
some key Institutions with the leading current activities of ISPP. This
was done by meetings with:
1. Dr Bahiru Duguma and Robert B Bertram of the US Agency for
International Development (USAID) who made some useful suggestions,
particularly about approaching CGIAR Institutions. A CGIAR Challenge
Program is planned covering mycotoxins and food safety. Contact with IFPRI
was recommended regarding the proposed Food Security journal.
[The International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI) is supported
by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
CGIAR was established in 1971 as a strategic partnership of countries,
international and regional organizations and private foundations
supporting the work of 15 international Centers. In collaboration with
national agricultural research systems, civil society and the private
sector, the CGIAR fosters sustainable agricultural growth through
high-quality science aimed at benefiting the poor through stronger food
security, better human nutrition and health, higher incomes and improved
management of natural resources. Editor's information]
2. Dr Eija Pehu and Lynn Brown of the World Bank
(WB) who expressed
interest and non-financial support toward all three ISPP activities.
Contact with the CGIAR was recommended, including the Gender and Diversity
Program. The WB asked to be represented at ICPP 2008. It was suggested
that the Food Security journal be focused on science-based matters.
3. Dr Eric M Rosenquist, E S Delfosse and A Rick Bennet of the USDA-ARS,
Beltsville, who expressed much interest in the ISPP activities. Dr
Rosenquist expressed interest in using funds available for projects in
developing countries (especially Africa) for sending researchers to ICPP
2008. Also the Challenge Programme is of interest to USDA-ARS. Electronic
publication was suggested for the Food Security journal.
4. The activities of ISPP were also discussed with IUBS Executive
Director Talal Younès. Special attention was given to a power-point
presentation on ISPP. He noted the resonance between the ISPP's priority
of Food Security and the IUBS initiative on Science for Health and
Well-being.
The National Academy of Sciences hosted a Reception for IUBS at which a
project to develop the Encyclopedia of Life was launched, see (www.eol.org).
The Washington events were reported upon by Professor M Lodovica
Gullino (marialodovica.gullino@unito.it), Vice President of ISPP, and Dr
Peter R Scott (p.scott@cabi.org), Immediate Past President of ISPP.
ProMED-Plant and Dagmar
Hanold
ProMED means the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases and comes
under the International Society for Infectious Diseases (http://www.isid.org).
It has an electronic system (ProMED-mail) for reporting diseases of
humans, animals and plants worldwide. ProMED's objective is specifically
to create a global system of early detection and timely response to
disease outbreaks. ProMED-Plant (PRO/PL) is the section reporting on
emerging plant diseases affecting agricultural crops, since these diseases
represent very real threats to human health.
ProMED-Plant started up in 1996 and Pamela Anderson at CIAT was its
first moderator. Former ISPP President Dick Hamilton took over as
moderator in April 1999 and after several years of service he was
succeeded by J Allan Dodds of the University of California Riverside.
Dr Dagmar Hanold has now replaced J Allan Dodds, who is retiring from
ProMED. Dagmar is a Research Fellow and Consultant at the Department of
Applied & Molecular Ecology, School of Agriculture and Wine,
University of Adelaide (Waite Campus), Australia.
Dagmar obtained her PhD from the University of Basel, Switzerland, and
is an expert in plant virology, diagnostics and practices for plant
quarantine and plant disease surveys. Her interests include plant diseases
of unknown origin, native ecosystems, and plant biosecurity. Her research
has involved work on diagnosis and control of two pathogens of coconut
palm: cadang-cadang viroid in the Philippines, and foliar decay virus in
Vanuatu, identification and characterization of viroids and viroid-like
sequences from palms, including oil palm "orange spotting"
disease, the incursions of plant pathogens into Australia, and development
of diagnostic methods for viroids and plant viruses.
ProMED-mail's web site is (http://www.promedmail.org). Send all items
for posting to (promed@promedmail.org)
(NOT to an individual moderator).
For a personal response, contact (owner-promed@promedmail.org).
Banana and plantain in
Africa
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
(IITA) in close
cooperation with the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS)
and other partners is organizing an Africa-based conference that will
focus on banana and plantain research across Africa. The International
Conference on Banana and Plantain in Africa: Harnessing international
partnerships to increase research impact will be held in Mombasa, Kenya
from 7-10 April 2008 (http://www.banana2008.com)
(see "Coming
Events") .
Fostering international partnerships is a major objective of the
conference, with particular emphasis to establish the role of research in
promoting future commercial activities and trade in banana, plantain and
ensete. This will be the first pan-African meeting to link research to
markets in an African context.
Key priorities are to:
- Develop an African strategy for the next decade to exploit banana and
plantain research
- Strengthen research partnerships to overcome
production bottlenecks * Harmonize research with production trends,
emerging markets and trade networks.
Banana and plantain are key staple crops in rural households in Africa.
They are also being increasingly targeted for income generation through
improved linkages with the private sector. The conference also intends to
foster research and trade experiences from other commodities. The result
of this meeting will be to fully realize the potential of this crucial
crop for poverty alleviation and wealth generation.
This conference is being organized in partnership with Bioversity
International, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) , the
International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) and the Kenyan
Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).
XIVth International
Botrytis Symposium, 2007 Cape Town, South Africa
Deidre Cloete, of the Symposium Secretariat, advises that the website
(http://academic.sun.ac.za/botrytis2007)
(see "Coming Events") has now been updated with the latest information on the programme from
21-26 October 2007, call for abstracts, exhibitor and sponsorship
information. The Symposium is now open for delegates to register to
attend.
The plenary sessions and the keynote speakers are as follows:
- Botrytis Identification and Detection
-
- Dr Molly Dewey (Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford,
England and Department of Viticulture and Enology, University of
California at Davis, USA)
-
- Biology and Genetics of Botrytis
-
- Dr Matthias Hahn (Department of Phytopathology TU Kaiserslautern,
Germany)
-
- Host-pathogen Interactions
-
- Dr Jan van Kan (Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen University,
Netherlands) Prof Paul Tudzynski (Institut für Botanik, Westfälische
Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany)
-
- Botrytis "-Omics"
-
- Dr Sabine Fillinger (INRA Versailles, Versailles cedex,
France)
-
- Ecology and Epidemiology
-
- Dr Yigal Elad (Department of Plant Pathology, The Volcani Center, Bet
Dagan, ISRAEL)
-
- Disease Management
-
- Dr Maarten de Waard (Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen
University, Netherlands) Dr Philip Elmer (HortResearch, Palmerston North,
New Zealand)
-
- Botrytis, Industry and the Food Chain
-
- Prof Philippe Darriet (Fac. d'Oenologie, UMR
Oenologie-Ampélologie, Talence, France) Prof Peter Schreier (Bayer Cropscience AG and Dept. of
Genetics, University of Cologne, GERMANY)
Apart from these plenary sessions, an Open Session on 25 October will
also be organised in collaboration with the local wine, viticultural and
deciduous fruit industries.
News from
the British Society for Plant Pathology
A three-day international meeting will be held at the University of
Bath, UK, from 12-14 September 2007 (see "Coming Events") and is
designed to provide an exciting and wide-ranging view of current
understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant disease.
Speakers have been selected from around the world for the breadth and
depth of their expertise. The talks are intended to cover what is
happening today with a view to future developments and to provide an
overview for an audience with a varied background in plant pathology.
Participants in this meeting are encouraged to contribute poster
presentations.
The programme, call for papers and online registration are now
available at (http://www.bsppmeetings.org.uk)
and there is a deadline of
12 August 2007.
New book
Induced Resistance for Plant Defence - A Sustainable Approach to Crop
Protection edited by Dale Walters, Adrian Newton and Gary Lyon. 258pp.
Published by Blackwell in 2007. ISBN: 978-1-4051-3447-7.
This subject now offers a prospect of broad spectrum, long-lasting and
environmentally benign disease control in plants. An introduction by Ray
Hammerschmidt is followed by twelve chapters from contributors around the
world covering cellular aspects, signalling and defence mechanisms,
trade-offs associated with the expression of induced resistance, work on
integration into crop protection and assessment from a commercial
perspective. I contributed to Chapter 11.
I recommend that libraries in universities and research stations
covering biological and agricultural sciences should have copies of the
book.
See Blackwell Publishing (www.blackwellpublishing.com). Brian Deverall.
Coming Events
2007 Joint Annual Meeting of The American Phytopathological Society and
Society of Nematologists in San Diego, California, USA. 28 July-1 August
2007. Register at (http://meeting.apsnet.org).
3rd Asian Conference on Plant Pathology ("The role of plant
pathology in rapidly globalizing economies of Asia") in Yogyakarta,
Indonesia. 20-24 August 2007. See (www.3rdacpp.com).
4th IUFRO Meeting on Phytophthoras in Forests and Natural Ecosystems at
the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Monterey, California, USA. 26-31 August
2007. Contact Katie Palmieri (palmieri@nature.berkeley.edu). See
(http://nature.berkeley.edu/IUFRO2007/phytophthora).
The BSPP Presidential Meeting: Attack and Defence in Plant Disease at
the University of Bath, United Kingdom. 12-14 September 2007. See (http://www.bsppmeetings.org.uk).
16th Biennial Australasian Plant Pathology Society Conference
("Back to Basics: Managing Plant Disease") and 9th Australasian
Mycological Society Conference in Adelaide, South Australia. 24-27
September 2007. See (www.australasianplantpathologysociety.org.au).
XVIth International Plant Protection Congress
(IPPC) in Glasgow, United
Kingdom. 15-18 October 2007. See (www.bcpc.org/iapps2007).
14th International Botrytis Symposium in Cape Town, South Africa. 21-26
October 2007. See (http://academic.sun.ac.za/botrytis2007/).
Borers and Rots in Eucalypts Conference in Perth, Western Australia.
5-7 November 2007. See (www.promaco.com.au/2007/borers).
2007 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
2-4 December 2007 Contact (scabusa@scabusa.org). See (www.scabusa.org/forum07.html).
National Soybean Rust Symposium in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. 12-14
December 2007. Contact (aps@scisoc.org). See
(www.apsnet.org).
International Conference on Banana and Plantain in Africa: Harnessing
International Partnerships to Increase Research Impact in Mombasa, Kenya.
7-10 April 2008. See (http://www.banana2008.com).
APS Annual Meeting, Minneapolis in Minnesota, USA. 26-30 July 2008.
Contact: (aps@scisoc.org). See (www.apsnet.org).
9th International Congress of Plant Pathology
(ICPP 2008) in Torino,
Italy. 24-29 August 2008. Contact: Congress Secretariat, Valentina
Communication, Via Cibrario 27, 10143 Torino, Italy. Phone:
+39-0114374250; Fax: +39-0114374318; e-mail: info@icpp2008.org
See (www.icpp2008.org).
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