H2020-funded research on Xylella fastidiosa presented at the EuroXanth COST Annual Conference in Coimbra

The 1st Annual Conference of the EuroXanth COST Action (CA16107) “Integrating science on Xanthomonadaceae for integrated plant disease management in Europe”  was held from 13 to 15 December 2017, in the historic city of Coimbra, Portugal, famous for one of the oldest universities of Europe, already recognised as a UNESCO cultural heritage.

Researchers from all over Europe and beyond, all devoting their research efforts to the bacteria belonging to the Xanthomonadaceae taxonomical family, spent three intense days of scientific reports, discussions andsocialisation.

The most recent research results on Xylella fastidiosa carried out within the Horizon2020-funded Projects POnTE and XF-ACTORS were presented by several researchers. Marie-Agnes Jacques (INRA) was entrusted with the first talk of the conference (“Is Xylella fastidiosa really emerging in France?”), and Maria Saponari (CNR-IPSP) chaired the session dedicated to Disease Management. Furthermore,  Juan Antonio Navas-Cortes (IAS-CSIC) talked about “Climatic suitability for Xylella fastidiosa using species distribution models” and Massimiliano Morelli (CNR-IPSP) presented the current study related to the effort to evaluate “Biocontrol of Xylella fastidiosa disease in olive with a beneficial endophyte”.

Moreover, Aleksa Obradović (UB-FA) and Anđelka Prokić (UB-FA), members of POnTE Consortium, presented their posters on studying xanthomonads affecting solanaceous crops and hazelnut.

In addition, the conference was an excellent opportunity to increase the scientific collaboration and propose potential interactions among the researchers within the POnTE and XF-ACTORS Consortia and the researchers of the other laboratories within the EuroXanth network.