Thematic sessions
Several thematic meetings will be organised on Tuesday 12th after 6:30 p.m in parallel sessions. The objective is to facilitate a space to discuss and share information in small groups about specific subjects
THEMATIC SESSION 1
Monilinia in stone fruits
Chairperson: Dr. Themis Michailides and Dr. Philip Elmer
Address: THEMIS@uckac.edu and Philip.Elmer@plantandfood.co.nz
Objectives: Monilinia is the main pathogen in stone fruit worldwide and its control is very difficult. This thematic session could be a good opportunity to facilitate the contact between researchers working in this subject, exchange information and discuss future collaborations.
Proposed format: An informal round table without technical presentations. Each participant can introduce him/herself and his/her Monilinia research program and then an open discussion. This session is only open to scientists who have experience in Monilinia. If you are interested in participating, please contact the chairperson to discuss your possible contributions in this thematic session.
THEMATIC SESSION 2
Food Security and Climate Change: Impact on mycotoxins?
Chairperson: Prof. Naresh Magan
Address: n.magan@cranfield.ac.uk
Objectives: Food security, climate change and the high price of staple cereals have become key areas for discussion in the last few years. Post-harvest contamination with mycotoxins causes significant impact on human health and nutrition. This session will be an opportunity to examine tools which can be utilised effectively for minimising the risk of mycotoxins in different key food chains.
Proposed format: This thematic session will be carried out in an informal discussion around some key issues relevant to this subject. Some speakers are being invited to give 10 minutes informal presentations in order to stimulate the open discussion afterwards.
Speakers list:
Prof. Naresh Magan. Applied Mycology Group, Cranfield Health, Cranfield University. U.K. ‘Introduction and scene setting’
Dr. Sonia Marín. University of Lleida, XaRTA-UTPV, Catalonia, Spain. ‘Modelling of growth/mycotoxins and environmental factors’
Dr. Cristiano Bello. Department of Environmental Biology “Sapienza” University, Rome, Italy. ‘Diagnostics for mycotoxins’
THEMATIC SESSION 3
Use of molecular tools in host-pathogen interaction studies
Chairperson: Dr. Luis González-Candelas
Address: lgonzalez@iata.csic.es
Objectives: Molecular postharvest pathology is an emerging field that can provide us with a deeper knowledge on both host’s defense mechanisms and pathogenicity factors. This new knowledge should be translated into more efficient approaches to reduce postharvest losses due to decay. This thematic session aims to bring together those researchers who have already or are implementing molecular and genomics tools to unravel fruit-pathogen interactions to facilitate exchange of information and discuss possible collaborations.
Proposed format: The thematic session “Use of molecular tools in host-pathogen interaction studies” will give us the opportunity to have six invited speakers who will present (10 minutes informal presentations) their actual research interests emphasizing the molecular and “omics” aspects of the work they are conducting and how they foresee the future of these tools in postharvest pathology. Afterwards we will have an open discussion among all assistants to exchange ideas and set up future collaborations with the goal of encouraging the adoption of these technologies to improve our knowledge on the different aspects of host-pathogen interactions within the postharvest area.
Speakers list:
Dr. Michael Wisniewski. U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), WV USA.
Dr. Dov Prusky.Department of Postharvest Science, Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel.
Dr. Mark Davey. Lab of Fruit Breeding and Biotechnology, Dept. of Biosystems, Fac. of Biosciences, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium.’
Dr. Shiping Tian.Key Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environmental Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
Dr. Samir Droby. Department of Postharvest Science, Agricultural Research Organization (ARO), the Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel.
Dr. Luis González-Candelas.Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA-CSIC). Av. Agustín Escardino 7, Paterna, 46980-Valencia, Spain.