When heat waves hit, citrus viruses throw a party! Rising temperatures supercharge citrus yellow mosaic virus, turning off the plant’s defences, allowing the virus to take over. But there’s hope: boosting “superhero genes” could help grow heat-resistant citrus trees. www.bspp.org.uk/when-heat-wa...

Student vlog: BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary Emily Snaddon talks about her time as a BSPP summer bursary student, asking: Does Zymoseptoria tritici hijack host hormone signalling? See her vlog here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-scN... #BSPP #PlantPathology #StudentVlog

BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary vlog Clementine Brannigan shares her bursary experience investigating how leaf surface properties influence microbial populations in the barley phyllosphere. Watch her vlog: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiH_... #BSPP #Microbiology #StudentResearch

BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary vlog What’s it like to be a summer bursary student? Grace Brookman takes us inside her project on Rhizoctonia cerealis, its prevalence, history, and fungicide sensitivity. Watch Grace’s story: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl7j... #BSPP #PlantPathology

Student vlog: BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary Lowri Wigley shares her summer research experience investigating the role of helitrons in the emergence of novel Fusarium oxysporum isolates. See her bursary journey here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w6R... #BSPP #StudentResearch #PlantHealth

Student vlog: BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary Edward Holtom reflects on his time as a BSPP summer bursary student, working on membrane trafficking of plant immune receptors. Discover his experience here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AgP... #BSPP #PlantPathology

BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary vlog: Lidija Basic reflects on her summer project, which explored how a unique iron acquisition system impacts the virulence of Pectobacterium atrosepticum. Watch her experience as a BSPP bursary student www.bspp.org.uk/funds/bspp-u... #BSPP #PlantPathology

Future plant pathologists in action! Our 2025 Summer Student Symposium showcased projects from undergraduates funded by the BSPP Undergraduate Vacation Bursary — from lab pathogens to AI & modelling. Read more: www.bspp.org.uk/summer-stude... #PlantPathology #BSPP

🎉 Congrats to our #PPATH2025 winners! 🏆 Athira Menon – Poster: RNA-binding proteins in plant immunity 🏆 Vanja Milenkovic – Talk: Drought & disease in Acute Oak Decline Inspiring plant pathology research! 🌱

We close with the RKS Wood Prize lecture from Prof Paul Birch on RXLR effectors, twenty years of discovery distilled into one talk.

Helen Cockerton explores host and tissue specific interactions in powdery mildew of hops, apples & strawberries. Genomics, QTL mapping & RNA-seq reveal resistance mechanisms, guiding disease management & breeding for resilient crops. #PPATH2025 #PlantPathology #PowderyMildew @kent.ac.uk

To control or not to control Botrytis, that is the question. Jan van Kan talks Botrytis, current controls, novel approach using mycoviruses and breeding to disable susceptibility genes. @w-u-r.bsky.social

AI in Agriculture: John Doonan showcases how high-throughput phenotyping and AI help decode crop stress responses, from drought to heat, linking traits to genetics and metabolism for resilient, climate-ready crops. #PPATH2025

Lamya Majeed explores how BABA-induced resistance creates long-lasting immunity in tomato via epigenetic and developmental mechanisms. Understanding these molecular pathways could transform sustainable crop protection. #PPATH2025 #PlantPathology

Diana Vinchira-Villarraga is discussing the battle between Oak and AOD-associated pathogens. Looking at the Metabolic Responses to Host-Derived Compounds. #PPATH2025

Srikanth Rupavatharam shows how AI is reaching farmers at the frontlines of crop protection at #PPATH2025. Tools like AgriLLM, Plantix & Plant Health Detector deliver real-time diagnoses and crop advice, helping smallholders tackle pests & diseases. #PlantPathology #AIinAg

Can Pseudomonas spp. Biocontrols help us to tackle Kiwi Canker? Isabella Frost is finding out! #PPATH2025

Our President Elect, Saskia Hogenhout, discusses her lab's work on aphid effectors, which are secreted during feeding and suppress plant immunity by recruiting defence proteins to processing bodies. #PPATH2025

The Induced Resistance and IPM parallel session kicks off with Hans Hoenicka from Germany, who talks about Alternative Approaches for Resistance Induction in Forest Tree Species, focusing on Ash Dieback and Dutch Elm Disease.

Kicking off the AI session at #PPATH2025! Adam Kleczkowski highlight how AI, ML & LLMs are transforming plant health research, turning decades of progress into years, but also raising new challenges. #PlantPathology #AI

End of Day2 #PPATH2025 dinner! Connecting with colleagues ahead of tomorrow's jam-packed programme: AI in Plant Health; farmer-level applications, 3D disease detection, leaf scale disease modelling, Induced Resistance & IPM and more!

It’s time for the P. H. Gregory session at #PPATH2025! Postgraduate students present cutting-edge research on plant pathology, from cereal rust surveillance to Fusarium and Botrytis interactions. The winner will be awarded the P. H. Gregory Prize, recognising excellence in presentations since 1991

Ziyue Zeng (Tracy) is using bacterial canker on Cherry to look at cross-habitat threats to agricultural crops and wild plants, and the importance of covering trees to prevent pathogen spread!

Apple canker is threatening our apple orchards! Matevz Papp-Rupar investigates how the apple microbiome influences susceptibility to Neonectria ditissima, offering new perspectives for managing apple canker #PPATH2025 @niab-uk.bsky.social

Ronnie de Jonge explores how root microbiomes assemble in Arabidopsis, Barley, and Lotus, identifying a functional backbone of plant-associated bacteria that could guide sustainable microbiome engineering. #PPATH2025

We are delighted to announce that Professor Nick Talbot, Executive Director of The Sainsbury Laboratory, has been awarded the BSPP RKS Wood Prize. He will deliver his prize lecture at #PPATH2026. Read more: www.bspp.org.uk/bspp-2026-rk... @thesainsburylab.bsky.social @TheSainsburyLab

Jens Tilsner shows how viral RNAs can be visualised in vivo, even inside plasmodesmata, revealing new insights into viral replication and transport. Work funded by the BSPP Small Project Fund. #PPATH2025

Ruth Bryant explores biological fungicides for wheat and barley, focusing on defence activation, priming, and balancing efficacy with crop yields. Insights for sustainable crop protection. #PPATH2025

Leena Tripathi presents how genome editing is creating disease-resistant bananas and plantains, targeting BXW and Banana Streak Virus without introducing foreign DNA. A major step for food security and smallholder farmers. #PPATH2025

Exciting insights from Evans Lagudah presenting on durable resistance to rusts: how ‘muscle’ (strong, race-specific) & ‘backbone’ (multi-pathogen, partial) R genes combine for long-lasting protection. #PlantPathology #PPATH2025

Today begins with the #PPATH2025 presidential address from Prof Matt Dickinson. A look at where plant pathology has been, and where it is heading

Wine and cheese making! Paul Dyer getting sexual reproduction in Fungi has given us more stains of fungi that we can use in cheese making giving us new flavours!  #PPATH2025

Elsie Emmanuel Olatunji is identifying resistance alleles in tomato for breeding against early blight. #PPATH2025 #ECPP2025

Adela Gaja Jezierska-Suwinska is making plants invisible to nematodes! #PPATH2025 #ECPP2025

Faheem Uddin Rajer is visiting from Pakistan to talk to us about harnessing the biocontrol potential of Bacillus cabrialesii FA26 for sustainable soilborne disease management. #PPATH2025 #ECPP2025

Katherine Wheeler is Elucidating conserved gene regulatory networks controlling lettuce response to Botrytis cinerea. #PPATH2025 #ECPP2025

Starting the afternoon session #PPATH2025 with a keynote from AAB Applied Plant Pathology group member Rumiana Ray @uniofnottingham.bsky.social on barley resistance to aphid-transmitted BYDV

Next up we have talks from 2 of AAB's own specialist group members 🫜 Alistair Wright - BBRO 🧅 James Fortune - VCS (UK) Ltd & Lawrence Bramham @rothamsted.bsky.social

Everybody needs a friend! Elin Falla from the University of Cambridge is talking about companion plants to control non-persistently transmitted plant viruses.

On to Tomatoes! Yue Lin Loh discusses her PhD, where she is using tiled amplicon sequencing as a diagnostic tool to indicate virus viability.

Thomas Adams from The James Hutton Institute talking about The Potato Pan-NLRome! #PPATH2025 #ECPP2025

Today’s ECPP keynote comes from Rosie Trice and Sophia Brockley (Wiley & Sons), lifting the lid on the publishing process.

Pseudomonas is under attack again, with Rebecca Lowry Palmer harnessing Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus as a Biocontrol Agent Against Pseudomonas syringae in Tomato Plants. #ECPP2025 #PPATH2025

Time to grab your abstract booklet and a cup of tea #PPATH2025 #ECPP2025

Sweet but Psycho? Andrea Vadillo Dieguez talks on a novel Type III Effector Protein in sweet cherry canker, Pseudomonas syringae at #ECPP2025 in Nottingham.

Amazing Talks and lively discussions kick off our #ECPP this morning, with our early career researchers showcasing their work on the cutting edge of #plantpathology.

Doors open today for #ECPP2025. From early career talks to applied research in agriculture, today sets the pace for the week ahead.

Only three days until plant pathologists from around the world converge on Nottingham for #PPATH2025 and #ECPP2025. Expect groundbreaking science, lively debate and new collaborations.

Ever dreamed of downloading a superpower? For bacteria, plasmids are their instant upgrades. Our latest blog demonstrates how plasmid copy number in Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens impacts disease severity in beans, and even complicates disease diagnostics. Read more: www.bspp.org.uk/i-know-how-t...

California’s trees are under threat! New research shows latent pathogens are driving widespread diebacks as the climate changes. Learn how these hidden microbes are impacting forests www.bspp.org.uk/in-californi...