GEVES participation in the ISTA Seed Health Committee Symposium in Poznan (Poland)
GEVES is actively involved in ISTA and its technical committees for the development and validation of seed evaluation methods. The Seed Health Committee (SHC) is presided by the director of the GEVES Pathology laboratory, Valérie Grimault. A summary of the work carried out by the SHC was presented during the opening ceremony of the 8th ISTA Seed Health Committee Symposium and 6th International Seed Health Conference. The current SHC comprises 14 members from 13 different countries; each member is assigned to a sub-committee (method validation, method review, skills evaluation) according to their area of expertise. Different projects are currently underway for pathogen detection, for example a project on the detection of Fusarium spp. There is also a working group updating the method validation guide published on the ISTA website.
The Symposium, organised by the University of Poznan, welcomed 52 people from 25 different countries. The conference was organised into several thematic sessions and covered a diverse number of subjects (regulation, detection methods, emerging pathogens, seed treatment) with 18 presentations and 10 posters. Two speakers from GEVES were invited to present their work. Thomas Baldwin presented a review of modern detection techniques and underlined the importance of combining molecular methods with other techniques for proof of viability and pathogenicity. Nicolas Denancé presented an update on the ISTA list of seed-borne/transmitted pathogens which will be of use for informing regulations on evaluating seed health for export.
Symposium participants
a) 52 people from 25 countries were present to present novel research results (Credit: Dorota Szopinska).
b) Guest presentation of Thomas Baldwin (credit: GEVES).
