Immunomodulation by plant-associated organisms

30th New Phytologist Symposium

Click here to download the 30th NPS abstract book

Thanks to all of our organisers, speakers and delegates who helped to make the 30th NPS such a great success. A meeting report entitled 'Effector wisdom' written by Amy Lee, Benjamin Petre, David Joly, was published in issue 197:2 of New Phytologist and can be read for free here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.12058/full

In April 2014 we published a Virtual Special Issue on 'Phytopathogen effector proteins'. Click here to find out more.

Deputy Managing Editor, New Phytologist

Poster prizes were awarded to the following people:

Joint first prize winning posters:

Poster 1: A plant-derived signal induces expression of the type III secretion system in Pseudomonas syringae and is genetically regulated by Arabidopsis Map Kinase Phosphatase 1
JEFFREY C. ANDERSON, YING WAN, SCOTT C. PECK

Poster 10: The Magnaporthe oryzae effectors Avr-Pia and AvrCO39 are recognized by the rice Nucleotide-Binding Site - Leucine Rich Repeat (NBS-LRR) protein RGA5 through direct interaction
S. CESARI, R. TERAUCHI, J. L. NOTTEGHEM, T. KROJ

Poster 25: Phosphorylation of HopQ1, a Type III Effector from Pseudomonas syringae, creates a binding site for host 14-3-3 proteins
FABIAN GISKA, MALGORZATA LICHOCKA, MARCIN PIECHOCKI, MICHAL DADLEZ, ELMON SCHMELZER, JACEK HENNIG, MAGDALENA KRZYMOWSKA

Runners up were: posters 17, 24, 37, 68 and 85.

To read the abstracts of these posters please see the abstract book which is available to download.

Symposium Scope

A diverse range of organisms interact with and alter plant immunity through secreted molecules known as effectors. Although a large number of effector molecules have been discovered in the genomes of a range of plant-associated organisms, relatively little is known about the activities and host targets of these effectors. This Symposium will focus on a mechanistic understanding of this process, covering a broad spectrum of plant interactions from divergent taxa including: bacteria, fungi, oomycetes, nematodes, insects and parasitic plants. This will help to illustrate the diversity of evolutionary strategies that microbes and other organisms have evolved that result in both positive and negative alterations to plants. By bringing together top scientists in this field we will provide an opportunity to compare the different approaches being undertaken to unravel the biochemical activities of the effectors. The Symposium will undoubtedly stimulate discussion as well as an exchange of ideas and research strategies.