Annual progress report - Cost 873

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Monitoring Progress Report – 2009 COST 873 – Bacterial Diseases of Stone Fruits and Nuts _________________________________________________________________________________ European Association of Phytobacteriologists This new society has been established to link the individual top phytobacteriologists of every European country (one per country), in an effort to network activities, exchange expertise and experience, and influence policy-makers. COST873 participants figure among a majority of the members. COST 853 has delivered a cherry genotyping microarray that will be applied in COST873 for rapidly determining the self-compatibility (reproductive) of varieties. This will enable us to more effectively select cherry cultivars for our screening of disease resistance (WG3) and for incorporating commercially suitable cultivar mixtures in orchards (WG4). A special-task force will be developed in 2009 to steer the screening of cherry cultivars using this chip. A German breeder has recently joined COST873 to focus on this effort. Microarray expertise for diagnostics has been recruited into COST873 and STSMs to explore these novel high-density arrays for multiplex diagnostics have started in 2009 (with a first publication already accepted). Further work is planned for early 2010 to explore applications for strain-fingerprinting of biocontrol agents. COST864 deals in part with a major bacterial disease of pome fruits, fire blight. Many of COST873 participants have links to COST864, and joint meetings/FP7 proposals are being explored for future links between our Actions. The Chair of COST864 and his laboratory have joined COST873 in order to integrate expertise in plant biochemistry to work with COST873 tree species. This link will also facilitate further cooperation in meeting planning to deliver added-value for related activities when appropriate. COST872/FA0604/ COST864 co-sponsored a Training Course Proposal for Functional Genomics held in Zürich, 04.2008 and organized by COST873. COST734 deals with climate change issues that tangentially relate to emerging threats from COST873 target pathogens/diseases. A Swiss project to evaluate disease forecasting data with links to COST873/864 was funded in 2009. There is a new effort in COST873 to initiate climate change research and we are interested in organizing a Trans-COST meeting on this topic in 2010 or 2011. EUREKA-EUROAgri+ A research proposal initiative between COST873 involved researchers and industries is being spearheaded by the CoP involving CH, AT, IT, FR, ES. A EUROAgri+ spokesman was invited and presented an overview talk on potential links with COST873 at one of the COST873 meetings in 2007 (Basel, CH). IOBC/wprs A joint meeting was held with the International Organisation for Biological Control in 09.2008 (Interlaken, CH). A further cooperation is planned tentatively for 2010 (Graz, AT). A joint publication of proceeding papers was published with B. Duffy (Chair) as Editor. International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) A link was made with ISHS in 10.2008 for significant cooperative efforts. ISHS has agreed to sponsor a joint ISHS/COST873 international meeting to be held in October 2011 in Switzerland. 36
Monitoring Progress Report – 2009 COST 873 – Bacterial Diseases of Stone Fruits and Nuts _________________________________________________________________________________ This will result in publication of an Acta Horticulturae volume. This will be a vehicle for promoting the high quality of European research in this field, particularly as fostered by the COST873 network. In addition, it is intended that this meeting will recruit international partners (e.g., USA, South America) for developing a comprehensive book on Stone Fruit and Nut Health Management. This will come after the end of COST873 but represent a synthesis of our Action results. COST873 participants promoted our research advances and the Action/COST concept at the ISHS Walnut meeting in Australia (Brisbane, 2009) and the ISHS Hazelnut meeting in Italy (Viterbo, 2009). A board member of ISHS, D. Avazanto, has been recruited and become an active and entertaining member of COST873. II.C. Self evaluation The Action is running smoothly and is well on target to achieve the goals listed in the MoU. Particularly successful towards this goal was the establishment of STFs (specific task forces) targeted to specific research and coordination goals of the Action. These ensure coverage of the fullbreadth of topics and national representation in COST873, as well as providing a defined procedure for establishing effective research collaborations among partners to accomplish goals in an orderly and timely fashion, despite funding limitations for research objectives. A major accomplishment of COST873, which could serve as a model for future COST Actions, is the successful establishment and implementation of a CoP (Committee of Practioners). This CoP has greatly facilitated information and technology transfer between the research arm of COST873 in WGs and COST873 stakeholders. Activities in 2007, 2008 and 2009 have increasingly resulted in productive cooperation between research and stakeholders (industry, policy-makers, growers, consumers, NGOs). Training aspects have been conducted in 2008 and 2009 that will significantly move towards one of our main goals of preparing a new generation of plant protection oriented specialists in phytobacteriology. The STSM component of this training effort has gotten off to a slow start, but interest has greatly increased in 2008 and 2009. Early interest in 2010, suggests that this training instrument will be more than adequately utilized in the remaining years of COST873. We have implemented a variation on the STSM for limited use to enable a cost-effective dissemination of expertise for training purposes in less-developed regions based on sending Senior Experts to conduct mini-training schools for local groups of COST873 students. The first such Expert STSM was conducted in RS in 2008, and 2 were conducted in 2009. A continuing aggressive campaign is planned for 2010 to encourage STSM exchanges of students, particularly within the framework of STFs (to result in collaborative research and publications) and training of less-developed areas. Major advances have been made in the website tools available to the Chair and all presentations of meetings, training, and research activities are posted online for optimal dissemination within COST873 and beyond starting in 2008. The website has received excellent feedback since its launch shortly after the Action start from many participants. In fact, participants of 2 other Actions have indicated to the Chair that they routinely use the www.cost873.ch portal to obtain basic COST forms and information (e.g., STSM application information). 37
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Annual progress report - Cost 873

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