Exchanges about Erwinia in Assisi
Joana Vicente reports from the 4th International Erwinia Workshop (4th IEW) which took place 2-3 July 2022 in Assisi, Italy.
Delegates took planes, trains and automobiles to convene at the Hotel Valle di Assisi to discuss various plant diseases that used to be classified as Erwinia, including Erwinia amylovora (cause of fire blight), Dickeya, Pantoea and Pectobacteriaceae. The workshop was a satellite meeting to the 14th International Congress on Plant Pathogenic Bacteria (ICPPB) the following week.
Although it took some time to adjust to the 35°C heat, the two days were packed with 23 oral presentations plus 13 posters. As expected, some talks were on the diversity and pathogenicity of strains from different parts of the world. There were also some talks on disease control (through resistance, bacteriophages, novel bacterial metabolites and enzymes), soil microbiome, international plant trade. One group are even developing an app for mapping fire blight in central Asia that can eventually be expanded to other countries and crops. Des-BL was introduced in a talk by Sonia Humphris entitled ‘New approaches to blackleg disease control’ that showcased all the different parts of this project. A colleague from Poland commented that they were jealous of the work being developed in this project!
Assisi is well known for being the birthplace of St Francis, the most famous patron saint in Italy. On Saturday before dinner we had a walk around the hilly town including the Basilica of St. Francis, an impressive two level church. After climbing through the beautiful streets of the town, we were rewarded with spectacular views while dining on the terrace of Hotel Giotto.
This meeting was organised by Ian Toth and Sonia Humphris who we know well from the BPD Des-BL project, with Roberto Buonario and Chiaraluce Moretti (University of Perugia), and Marco Scortichini (CREA Research Centre for Olive, Fruit and Citrus Crops, Rome). Sadly, Professor Nicola Sante Iacobellis, the lead organiser of the ICPPB conference, who had suggested combining it with the IEW, passed away six weeks before the event. This obviously added pressure to the organisers, but they truly honoured Nicola by making these two joint events a huge success!
by Joana Vicente, Bacterial Plant Diseases Programme Coordination Team