International Symposium on Pine Wilt Disease

Manuel Mota (third from left)
organized the International
Symposium on pine wilt disease.

The international symposium, "Pine Wilt Disease: A Worldwide Threat to Forest Ecosystems," was organized by Manuel Mota (Ph.D., PPWS, 1992) and held July 10-14, 2006, at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal. Participants included 103 scientists from 24 countries, representing nematology, entomology, forestry, plant physiology, epidemiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, morphology, and taxonomy. Many facets about the biology of the causal agent of pine wilt, the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, were presented. Topics included global issues, trade, economic impact, biology, inter-relationships, taxonomy, identification, detection methods, tree physiology, resistance, histopathology, ecology, modeling, and pine wood nematode and insect vector control methods. Professor J. D. Eisenback of PPWS presented a paper entitled, "Taxonomic Databases for Bursaphelenchus and other Aphelenchid Nematodes."