In this issue:
Plant Pathogenic Bacteria:
Genomics and Molecular Biology
This new book is edited by Robert W Jackson,
School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights,
Reading, RG6 6AJ, UK. It will be published in January 2009. The price will
be £150 or $US310. It has xii + 330 pages. ISBN: 978-1-904455-37-0. The
publishers are Horizon Press : http://www.horizonpress.com/ppb
. International experts review important developments providing summaries
of the molecular biology and genomics of plant pathogenic bacteria. The
book starts with two chapters on bacterial evolution, diversity and
taxonomy. The third chapter deals with pathogen adaptation to the plant
apoplast environment. The following seven chapters focus on Agrobacterium,
Leifsonia, Pectobacterium, Pseudomonas, Ralstonia, Xanthomonas and Xylella.
The next four chapters review microbe associated molecular patterns (MAMPs)
and innate immunity; use of bacterial virulence factors to suppress plant
defence; cyclic di-GMP signalling and the regulation of virulence; and
plasmids and the spread of virulence. The final chapter covers the area of
bioinformatics.
New Books from ACIAR
The Australian Centre for International
Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has three new books:
Integrated pest and disease management for
sustainable cocoa production: a training manual for farmers and extension
workers by Konam J, Namaliu Y, Daniel R and Guest D I (2008). ISBN: 978 1
921434 57 0 (print) 978 1 921434 58 7 (online). Price: $AUD 9.00. This
booklet addresses knowledge gaps in cocoa production. See: MN131 http://www.aciar.gov.au/publication/MN131
.
TaroPest: an illustrated guide to pests and
diseases of taro in the South Pacific by Carmichael A, Harding R, Jackson
G, Kumar S, Lal S N, Masamdu R, Wright J and Clarke A R (2008). ISBN: 978
1 921424 55 6 (print) 978 1 921434 56 3 (online). Price: $AUD 27.00. See:
MN132 http://www.aciar.gov.au/publication/MN132.
Growing peanuts in Papua New Guinea: a best
management practice manual by Hughes M, Rachaputi R C N, Kuniata L and
Ramakrishna A (2008). ISBN: 978 1 921434 86 0 (print) 978 1 921434 87 7
(online). Price: $AUD 19.00. This is aimed at the wide spectrum of
industry stakeholders interested in growing and marketing peanuts in PNG.
It is designed to assist agricultural researchers, extension people,
smallholder producers, agricultural consultants and commercial producers
by providing information on best management practices that will improve
peanut productivity and quality. See: MN134 http://www.aciar.gov.au/publication/MN134.
Dictionary of the Fungi
The 10th edition of the Dictionary of the Fungi
has been published recently by CABI. This edition has more than 21,000
entries, and provides the most complete listing available of generic names
of fungi, their families and orders, their attributes and descriptive
terms.
A purchaser will receive a CABI Fungi Calendar
2009, which shows striking images combined with facts on fungi. It can be
purchased directly from the website or free in combination with the
Dictionary of the Fungi.
See: http://www.cabi.org/fungicalendar
.
Behind "Green Fluroescent
Protein"
This protein (GFP) has major impacts in research
by providing a way to track the activity of individual proteins within
cells, and thereby monitor how genes are expressed. It has been used in
investigating aspects of pathogen-plant interactions, and often in many
fields of biochemistry and biology.
Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien from the USA and
Osamu Shimomura from Japan won this year's Nobel Prize in chemistry for
the discovery and development of green florescent protein (GFP). Shimomura
obtained the protein from the glowing jellyfish Aequorea victoria in the
early 1960s. Chalfie, Columbia University, New York, engineered it into
cells in 1992 and Tsien, University of California, San Diego, modified the
protein to produce analogues of different colours.
See: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081008/full/news.2008.1159.html
.
Serious problem in
horseshestnut trees
I became aware of the problem when I visited the
UK after leaving Turin in August 2008. This was my first visit for 9
years, and I was concerned by apparent deterioration of mature
horsechestnut trees in many places. Then in Oxford, UK, I saw death of
trees and bleeding cankers on trunks of other trees in the small forest
behind the house of plant pathologist Dr F M (Molly) Dewey. Molly then
found a series of recent publications on the disease and its bacterial
cause. Research in England, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany
implicated a pathovar of Pseudomonas syringae first described by Durgapal
J C and Singh B (1980) Taxonomy of pseudomonads pathogenic to
horse-chestnut, wild fig and wild cherry in India. Indian Phytopathology
33, 533-535. Other symptoms on leaves may be caused by a leaf-spotting
fungus and by an insect.
Abstract 26.54 in the ICPP2008 Book of Abstracts
is "A New Causal Agent of Horse Chestnut Bleeding Canker, Pseudomonas
syringae pv. aesculi" by J F Webber, J Rose, N M Parkinson, H
Stanford and J G Elphinstone. Contact: joan.webber@forestry.gsi.gov.uk. This book is published as Supplement 2 to the Journal of Plant Pathology
90 (2008), edited by A Porta-Puglia and P Gonthier.
A recent full paper on the pathogen is O Schmidt,
D Dujesiefken, H Stobbe, U Moreth, R Kehr and Th. Schroder (2008)
Pseudomonas syringae pv aesculi associated with horse chestnut bleeding
canker in Germany. Forest Pathology 38, 124–128. Contact: o.schmidt@holz.uni-hamburg.de
.
A sheet from Forest Research, UK, and the Central
Science Laboratory, UK, showing the symptoms and the distribution of
bleeding canker in England up to 2005 can be seen by clicking
here.
Brian Deverall
News from Societies Associated
with ISPP
A number of National and Regional Societies sent
reports and news to Greg Johnson, ISPP Secretary-General in the lead-up to
ICPP2008. ISPP heard from:
Australasian Plant Pathology Society; The British
Society for Plant Pathology; The Canadian Phytopathological Society / La
Société Canadienne de Phytopathologie; Deutsche Phytomedizinische
Gesellschaft; Hellenic Phytopathological Society; Italian Association for
Plant Protection (Associazione Italiana per la Protezione delle Piante -
AIPP); Iranian Phytopathological Society; Latin-American Plant Pathology
Association (Asociacion Latinoamericana de Fitopatologia); Mediterranean
Phytopathological Union; Philippine Phytopathological Society;
Phytopathological Society of Japan; Southern African Society for Plant
Pathology; Société Française de Phytopathologie; The Thai
Phytopathological Society.
Each report may be seen on the ISPP web-site at http://www.isppweb.org/about_associated.asp
.
Resources for Reconstruction in
Iraq and Afghanistan
The purpose of the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) website http://agriportal.info/default.aspx
is provision of resources for agricultural extension workers, especially
members of Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These resources are provided as part of the USDA PRT Project. Leading it
are the University of Hawaii and the Norman Borlaug Institute for
International Agriculture of Texas A&M AgriLife.
Climate-Proof Crops
The Global Crop Diversity Trust, which established
a seed vault in Svalbard, as mentioned in an earlier ISPP Newsletter at http://www.isppweb.org/nlmar08.asp#8
, is searching crop collections from 21 research institutions for traits
that could arm against potential impacts of climate change. It will screen
seeds from genebanks for natural resistance to diseases, drought,
salinity, and extreme temperature. The lack of readily available data on
key traits hinders efforts to identify materials for use in breeding new
varieties for the climates likely to be experienced in the coming
decades.
To be screened will be chickpea and wheat
collections in Pakistan for economically useful traits, and also rare
coconuts in Sri Lanka for drought tolerance and resistance to pests and
diseases. Salinity tolerance in sweet potatoes in Peru, and
drought-tolerance in bananas from India, will be sought.
See: www.croptrust.org/documents/Press%20Releases/Trust%20grants%20release%20FinalSept08.pdf
.
New APS Office Holders
The American Phytopathological Society (APS) has
announced its officers for 2008-2009. The new officers began their terms
at the conclusion of the 2008 Centennial Meeting at the end of July.
The new APS President is James W Moyer, Professor
and Head of the Department of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State
University. He hopes to expand the APS initiative to identify plant
pathology training and educational needs in order to remain relevant into
the future through reaching out to stakeholders including students,
industrial employers, and government agencies. He also sees an increase in
global involvement necessary to facilitate communication between plant
pathologists worldwide and to assist the societies that represent them.
Raymond D Martyn Jr, Purdue University, is
Immediate Past President. Barbara J Christ, Pennsylvania State University,
is President-Elect; John L Sherwood, University of Georgia, is Vice
President; Danise T Beadle, Bayer CropScience, is Secretary; and Randall C
Rowe, Ohio State University, is Treasurer.
Indonesian Increase For
Agricultural R&D
The Indonesian government has increased the
proportion of State Revenue for Agricultural Research and Development.
Non-rice main food commodities such as wheat, soybean, chicken meat and
eggs need developing. Next year's budget increase is aimed to improve the
capacity of human and natural resources to play important roles in the
agricultural sector. Technological innovations are currently playing a
strategic role in increasing food production despite shrinking farmland
area. Indonesian universities are also being encouraged to support the
program for local food sustainability and global food competitiveness.
See: http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2008/09/02/00395277/wapres.akui.riset.pertanian.masih.lemah
.
Biotechnology Research Centre
in Vietnam
Dong Nai, Vietnam, has started constructing
a Centre for Biotechnology Application Research. The Centre in the Cam My
district will carry out research on the application of biotechnology to
produce high-quality and high-yielding plant varieties and animal breeds.
It will also develop advanced methods to diagnose diseases, strategies for
preventive medicine, and environmental protection. It will also help with
links between research establishments, farmers and businesses.
In 2010, initial facilities will be used for
development of plant varieties and animal breeds through biotechnology. By
2020, the centre will develop a number of biotechnology businesses to
provide products and services for local and foreign markets. For
biotechnology updates in Vietnam, contact Hien Le of the Vietnam BIC at hientttm@yahoo.com
.
Fungicide Resistance Action
Committee (FRAC)
FRAC originated as a result of a course on
fungicide resistance in 1980, and was developed at an industry seminar in
Brussels in 1981. It is now a Specialist Technical Group of CropLife
International, and its purpose is to provide fungicide resistance
management guidelines to prolong the effectiveness of "at risk"
fungicides and to limit crop losses should resistance occur. See: http://www.frac.info/frac/index.htm
. The main aims of FRAC are to: 1. Identify existing and potential
resistance problems. 2. Collate information and distribute it to those
involved with fungicide research, distribution, registration and use. 3.
Provide guidelines and advice on the use of fungicides to reduce the risk
of resistance developing, and to manage it should it occur. 4. Recommend
procedures for use in fungicide resistance studies. 5. Stimulate open
liaison and collaboration with universities, government agencies,
advisors, extension workers, distributors and farmers.
Monographs arising from the work of FRAC are:
Fungicide Resistance in Crop Pathogens: How can it
be managed? by Keith J Brent, 2007 (second, revised edition). http://www.frac.info/frac/publication/anhang/monograph1_frac1.pdf
. Fungicide Resistance, the Assessment of Risk by Keith J Brent and Derek
W Hollomon, 2007 (second, revised edition). http://www.frac.info/frac/publication/anhang/monograph2_agro.pdf
. Sensitivity Baselines in Fungicide Resistance Research and Management by
Phil E Russell, July 2004. http://www.frac.info/frac/publication/anhang/monograph3.pdf
.
Two New Titles from APS Press
50 Video Clips of Fungal Diseases of Cereals
DVD from the Biology of Fungal Pathogens Video Series. These are
hand-picked video sequences from The Biology of Fungal Pathogens Video
Series. This new DVD-ROM has 50 clips from all eight videos in the series
and allows import of animation into presentations, thereby reinforcing
teaching with illustrations of fungal biology. It is PC and Mac
Compatible; ISBN 978-0-89054-362-7. It may be purchased for $US159.00 plus
shipping and handling for personal use.
Assess 2.0: Image Analysis
Software for Plant Disease Quantification. This quantifies and measures
plant diseases quickly and accurately. Rapid measurement of leaf area,
percent disease, root length, lesion count, percent ground cover, and
applications are simple. It provides automatic measurement
(user-independent) of many plant diseases and ground cover. It can also be
used as an interactive laboratory tool for real-time length and area
measurements of anything that can be imaged (scans, digital photographs,
microscopy, etc.). The CD is accompanied by a textbook-quality user manual
with nineteen tutorials. CD and manual (ISBN 978-0-89054-369-6) may be
purchased for $US295.00 (personal use) or $US495 (multi-user) plus
shipping and handling.
Orders may be placed with The American
Phytopathological Society at www.shopapspress.org
or toll-free at +1-800-328-7560 from USA/Canada or +1-651-454-7250 from
elsewhere.
Coming Events
British Crop Production Council (BCPC) Congress
2008 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. 3-5 November 2008. See: http://www.bcpc.org/Congress2008/index.asp
.
2nd InternationaL Symposium on Biological Control
of Bacterial Plant Diseases in Orlando, Florida, USA. 4-7 November 2008.
Contact: JBJones@ufl.edu.
Third International Meeting of the Peanut Genomics
Initiative on Advances in Arachis through Genomics and Biotechnology
(AAGB-2008) at ICRISAT Headquarters, Hyderabad, India.4-8 November 2008.
See: http://www.icrisat.org/aagb-2008
.Contact: Rajeev Varshney r.k.varshney@cgiar.org
.
The First World Biodiversity Congress in Chiang
Mai, Thailand. 20-22 November 2008. See: http://www.upm.edu.my/WCB2008Thailand.pdf
.
10th International Symposium on the Biosafety of
Genetically Modified Organisms in Te Papa, Wellington, New Zealand. 16-21
November 2008. See: http://www.isbgmo.info
. E-mail: Michelle Kane at mk@tcc.co.nz
.
Applied Aspects of Aerobiology at Rothamsted
Research, Harpenden, Herts, UK. 19 November 2008. See: www.aab.org.uk
.
8th Australasian Plant Virology Workshop in
Rotorua, New Zealand. 19-22 November 2008. Contact: Dr Robin MacDiarmid rmacdiarmid@hortresearch.co.nz
.See: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/apvw2008
.
International Conference "Genetic control of
plant pathogenic viruses and their vectors: towards new resistance
strategies" in Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz, Spain. 23-27 November
2008. See: http://www.richalia.es/congreso/index.html
.
Biotechnology Havana 2008 in Havana, Cuba. 30
November 30-5 December 2008. See: http://bh2008.cigb.edu.cu/home.htm
.
2008 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum in
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.2-4 December 2008. See: http://www.scabusa.org/forum08.html
.Contact: scabusa@scabusa.org
.
International Conference on Legume Genomics and
Genetics in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. 7-12 December 2008. See www.ccg.unam.mx/iclgg4/index.htm
.
Global Potato Conference 2008 "Opportunities
and Challenges in the New Millennium" in New Delhi, India. December
9-12, 2008. See: www.gpc2008 .in. Contact Dr J S Minhas at minhasjs@excite.com
.
Second International Symposium on Papaya in
Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. 9-12 December 2008. See: http://www.ishs-papaya2008.com/Home%20page
.html.Contact: Dr N Kumar kumarhort@yahoo.com
. T
he International Soybean Processing and
Utilization Conference at the Soybean Processing and Utilization Centre,
Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering in Bhopal, India. 10-14
December 2008. Contact: Dr S D Kulkarni at sdk@ciae.res.in
or ispuc.v@gmail.com .
BSPP Presidential Meeting "Cereal
Pathosystems" at Queen Mary College, London, UK. 16–17 December
2008.See: http://www.bsppmeetings.org.uk/
.
XV Latinamerican Congress of Plant Pathology and
XVIII Congress of the Chilean Society of Plant Pathology at Pontificia
Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago, Chile. 12-16 January 2009.
Papers in English, Portuguese and Spanish are welcome. Contact Gloria Caro
at gcaro@uc.cl or fitopatologia@uc.cl
. See: http://www.puc.cl/agronomia/congresoalf
.
The French Plant Virology Congress in Aussois,
France. 18-22 January 2009.
5th Australasian Soilborne Diseases Symposium at
the Thredbo Alpine Hotel, NSW, Australia. 5-7 February 2009. Registrations
are now open but the deadline for abstracts was 31 October 2008. See: http://www.conlog.com.au/asds/
. Contact: conference@conlog.com.au
.
Crop Protection in Southern Britain at the East of
England Showground, Peterborough, UK. 10-11 February 2009 See: http://www.aab.org.uk/contentok.php?id=184&basket=wwsshowconflist
.
International Meeting on Emerging Diseases and
Surveillance 2009 (IMED) in Vienna, Austria. For the public health
community (human and animal), scientists, health care workers, and other
leaders in the field of emerging infectious diseases. 13-16 February 2009.
See: http://imed.isid.org .
International Conference on Grain Legumes: Quality
Improvement, Value Addition and Trade in Kanpur, India. 14-19 February
2009. See: http://www.icar.org.in/internconference.pdf
.
International Forest Biosecurity Conference,
incorporating the 6th International Forest Vegetation Management
Conference, in Rotorua, New Zealand. 16-20 March 2009. See: http://forestbiosecurity.com/
.Contact: Dr Brian Richardson, General Manager, Ensis Forest Biosecurity
and Protection, Private Bag 3020, Rotorua, New Zealand. Phone:
+64-7-343-5516; Fax: +64-7-343-5333; Mobile: 021-913-221.
FEBS Workshop 'Adaptation Potential in Plants' at
the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Vienna, Austria.
19-21 March 2009. Contact: maria.siomos@gmi.oeaw.ac.at
.See: www.gmi.oeaw.ac.at/febs2009
.
7th World Potato Congress "Nourishing Our
Future" in Christchurch, New Zealand. 22-25 March 2009. See: http://www.wpcnz.org.nz/
.
Greenhouse 2009: Climate Change and Resources, in
Perth, Western Australia. 23-26 March 2009. See: http://www.greenhouse2009.com
.
International Conference on Plant Virology to be
held at the Harrogate International Center, UK. 1-3 April 2009. See: www.aab.org.uk/contentok.php?id=73&basket=wwsshowconfdets
.
The Second European Ramularia Workshop, Edinburgh
2009 - a new disease and challenge in Barley Production in Edinburgh, UK.
7-8 April 2009. See: www.aab.org.uk
.
Advances in epidemiology and control of rusts at
Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), Edinburgh, UK. 22-23
April 2009.See: http://www.aab.org.uk/page.php?start=184&conf=78
.
8th International PGPR Workshop in Portland,
Oregon, USA. 17-22 May 2009. See: www.capps.wsu.edu/pgpr
.
Training Program: Integrated Pest Management and
Food Safety in Wageningen, The Netherlands. 18 May-12 June 2009. Contact: training.wi@wur.nl
.
14th International Sclerotinia Workshop in
Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. 31 May-4 June 2009. See: http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/sclerotinia_conference/index.html
. SFP National Congress (in French) in Lyon, France. 8–11 June
2009.
XXIth International Symposium on Virus and
Virus-Like Diseases of Temperate Fruit Crops and XIIth International
Symposium on Small Fruit Virus Diseases in Germany. 5-10 July 2009. See http://www.phytomedizin.org/index.php?id=193
. Source: Professor Dr Wilhelm Jelkmann Wilhelm.Jelkmann@jki.bund.de
Julius Kühn-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen,
Institut für Pflanzenschutz in Obst- und Weinbau, Schwabenheimer Str.
101, 69221 Dossenheim, Germany.
Plant ROS 2009 in Helsinki, Finland. 8-10 July
2009. Contact: organizers@pog2009.org
.See: www.pog2009.org/ .
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/
.
APPS 2009 "Plant Health Management-An
Integrated Approach" at the Civic Precinct, Newcastle, Australia. 30
September-2 October 2009. Contact: Conference Secretariat, PO Box 6150,
Kingston, ACT 2604, Australia. Phone: +61 2 6281 6624, Fax: +61 2 6285
1336. Email: conference@conlog.com.au
.
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 .
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 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 .
National Soybean Rust Symposium in New Orleans,
Louisiana, USA. 9-11 December 2009. Contact: dorrance.1@osu.edu
.
APS Annual Meeting 2010 at Opryland, Nashville,
Tennessee, USA. 7-11 August 2010. See: http://www.apsnet.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/
.
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
.
