A Report on the 13th International Conference on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria (ICPPB)
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By the 13 Subject Matter Committee on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria of ISPP
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The 13 International Conference on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria (ICPPB2014), organized by
both the Scientific Committee on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria (the subject matter committee of
the
International
Society
for
Plant
Pathology
(ISPP))
(http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=17) and the Scientific Committee on Plant Bacterial
Diseases (SCPBD) (the subject matter committee of the Chinese Society for Plant Pathology
(CSPP)) (http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=17), was hosted at Shanghai Everbright
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International Hotel from the 8 to 13 of June 2013 in Shanghai by the School of Agriculture
and Biology (SAB) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), the State Key Laboratory of
Microbial Metabolism (SKLMM) of SJTU, and the State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant
diseases and Insect Pests (SKLBPI) at the Institute of Plant Protection of Chinese Academy of
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Agricultural Sciences. This Conference also incorporated the 6 National Conference on Plant
Bacterial Diseases subjected by the SCPBD of CSPP.
The event attracted 302 delegates representing 33 countries (regions) all over the world
(http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=22). The ICPPB conference set four sessions:
Session 1, Omics and Evolution; Session 2, Pathogenesis and Regulation; Session 3, Disease
Resistance and Effector Biology; and Session 4, Taxonomy, Epidemiology, Ecology and
Control. Totally, the conference received 168 abstracts (see the Abstract Booklet), including
19
conference-invited
speeches
and
keynote
lectures
(30
minute
lecture
each)
(http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=5), 56 session talks (20-minute speech each), and 60
poster presentation (2-minute oral report each), and 78 posters. Each session took one day
but was put into four different portions in four days in order to attract more participants to
involve in the conference (http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=4).
The conference began at 17:30 on Sunday evening (June 8) with a Chinese welcome banquet
aiming to evict evil spirits and bring good luck and peace. All the attendees were welcomed by:
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Dr. Gongyou Chen, the chair of the Scientific committee of the 13 ICPPB and the Professor of
SJTU; Dr. Jie Feng, the chair of the local organization and scientific committee (LOC) of the
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13 ICPPB, the chair of the scientific committee on Plant Bacterial Diseases of CSPP, and the
professor of IPP at CAAS; Dr. Ian Toth, the professor of the James Hutton Institute in UK and
the senior editor of Molecular Plant Pathology; Mr. An-Sheng Zhang, the vice president of
SJTU; Dr. Liangli Yu, the Dean of School of Agriculture and Biology at SJTU, and
one-thousand talent winner of China. They all presented great congratulations on the
successful opening of the ICPPB2014 in Shanghai. Oversea delegates adventured the
wonderful conference that they have not ever attended and was well organized by the LOC in
the following five days.
The conference then proceeded to offer a busy and exciting range of presentations, which
covered all disciplines within the field of phytobacteriology. One of the key aspects of the 13
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conference was the evolutionary strides made since then in the filed of type-III effectors, of
which transcriptional activator-like effectors have been developed to TALEN technology for
breeding resistant plants to control bacterial diseases. A particular topic was the evolution of
phytopathogenic bacteria with the uptake of various pathogenicity determinants revealed by
Omics with the available genomics. The available genomics also promoted the new taxonomy,
epidemiology, ecology and diagnosis of Pseudomonas, Erwinia, Pantoea, Ralstonia,
Pectobacterium and Xanthomonas, and what they cause plant bacterial diseases. The new
concepts beyond PTI, ETI and ETS were also presented with detail discussions.
The poster reviewing sessions on two evenings of June 9 and 10 were vibrant, well attended
and informative. Totally, 78 posters were demonstrated with the same rich topics covering four
sessions, and 60 of which were presented in the conference by 2-minute oral presentation.
The received 168 abstracts were collected in an abstract booklet, available also on the website
of ICPPB2014 (http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=28).
Delegates were given a day off on Wednesday to digest and discuss the information that had
been presented over the
previous
two
days
during
an
awesome
trip
to
Xikou
scenic spots of Ningbo in Zhejiang province. They experienced the great changes of Chinese
culture, countryside, environments along the way to Xikou by crossing a 36-kilometer oversea
bridge. Most oversea delegates were deeply impressed with this first and unforgettable trip.
They were also treated to a traditional Chinese local meal and drinks at a local traditional
Chinese courtyard layout.
For better adventuring Shanghai, the conference also offered a river cruise to delegates on
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June 12 evening. On a luxury houseboat along the Huangpu River at night, they saw the fairly
glamorous Bund, one of the symbols of Shanghai, and experienced how Shanghai city is
the Oriental Pearl.
This superb four-year-event conference with outstanding talks which sparked lively
discussions, as well as with excellent food and organization, closed with the election of the
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venue for the 14 ICPPB. There were three proposals expressing to host the 14 ICPPB: one
from Italic Society for Plant Pathology represented by Dr. Nicola Sante Iacobellis of University
Degli Studi Della Basilicata, one from International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Uganda
by Dr. Leena Tripathi, and the third from USDA-ARS by Dr. Carolee Bull. After 5-minute
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presentation each, the delegates of the 13 ICPPB voted to Dr. Leena Tripathi to organize the
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14 ICPPB in 2018 in Kampala, Uganda.
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Two big innovations have been made in the 13 ICPPB. Setting travel awards and poster
awards encourages Ph. D students and post doctors for their outstanding initiation in
phytobacteriology. Totally, five young scientists won travel awards and another five did poster
awards, 500 $ each. The second is to rule out basic requirements for being a Scientific
Committee Member on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria: helping the chair to organize better ICPPB;
providing more opportunities to and/or call for more outstanding researchers and young
phytobacteriologists for the ICPPB; and not receiving financial supports from the local
organization committee to participate the conference. The new Scientific Committee members
on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria were nominated and elected with the help from the chair, Dr.
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Gongyou Chen, of the 13 ICPPB to the new Chair, Dr. Leena Tripathi, of the 14 ICPPB. A
passionate speech was then delivered by Dr. Leena Tripathi and the closing ceremony was
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finalized by Dr. Gongyou Chen, the 13 ICPPB chair. The delegates of the ICPPB2014 agreed
to the conclusion that the ICPPB got a right time (first in China) in a right place (Shanghai,
China) for a wonderful conference and hoped that the next ICPPB conference could keep the
fashions of ICPPB2010 in Reunion, France and ICPPB2014 in Shanghai, China.
Associated with the Conference was the 3
rd
international Erwinia Workshop (IEW). The 3
rd
IEW was organized by Dr. Baishi Hu from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, Dr. Jean M.
van der Wolf from Plant Research International, the Netherlands, and Dr. Ian Toth from the
James Hutton Institute, Scotland, UK, with the help by Dr. Gongyou from SJTU, and
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progressed from June 7 to June 8 (http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=9). Totally, 40
international attendees from many of the main groups world-wide working on Enterobacterial
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plant pathogens were in the 3 IEW and 19 speeches were presented to stress: Epidemiology
& Control, Taxonomy & Detection, and Plant-Pathogen Interactions. It became clear very
quickly that many things have changed in this field since the last meeting. New disease
problems that had emerged over the last few years were discussed, including Dickeya spp. on
potato (blackleg diseases) not only in Europe and Pantoea ananatis of Eucalyptus in South
Africa, but also in China. These issues had led to the development of improved diagnostics
and typing methods to monitor and track populations, as well as new insights into the
pathogenesis and other lifestyle determinants of these pathogens. The received abstracts
were collected in an abstract booklet, available also on the website of ICPPB2014
(http://www.icppb2014.org/page.asp?id=28).
The conference was well supported under the high patronage of SJTU, and the patronage of
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). The principal sponsors also
included Shanghai Majorbio Bio-Pham Technology Co., Ltd (http://www.majorbio.com),
Jiangsu Flag Chemical Industry Co., Ltd (http://www.flagchem.com/index.asp), Shanghai
Bio-Tech Co., Ltd (http://www.boyuanbio.com), Shanghai OE Biotech. Co., Ltd
(http://www.oebiotech.com), Beijing Multigrass Formulation Co., Ltd
(http://www.chinabaicao.com), Beijing Zhongnong Lvkang Biotech. Co., Ltd
(http://www.bjznlk.cn), and Zhejiang Longwan Chemicals Co., Ltd
(http://www.longwanchem.com).
Gongyou Chen
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The Chair of the 13 ICPPB