Attend and present PhD research findings at the 8th International Workshop on Grapevine Downy and Powdery Mildew in Oregon
Abstract
Andrew Taylor attended the 8th International Workshop on Grapevine Downy and Powdery Mildew in Corvallis, USA, 17-19 July 2017 and provided an oral presentation and poster on his current PhD project on downy mildew in Australian vineyards. A total of 19 presentations and five posters were delivered over the two day workshop with the program being available at http://gdpm2017.org/congress/program/. Training in the use of the population analysis package Poppr was undertaken post workshop. New networks and potential collaborations were established with international researchers. An article is in preparation in an industry journal.
Summary
Andrew Taylor, PhD student at Murdoch University and Research Officer at DPIRD Western Australia attended the 8th International Workshop on Grapevine Downy and Powdery Mildew in Corvallis, USA, 17-19th July 2017.
This international workshop, co-hosted by Oregon State and Washington State Universities, provided the attendees a forum to present current research on downy and powdery mildew that has been established in the four years since the previous workshop. Attendees at the workshop represented research institutes and members of industry in Oregon and Washington. Powdery and downy mildew are considered the top two diseases for industry wide economic impact on grapevines in Australia.
A total of 19 presentations and five posters were presented over two days with sessions including disease management, breeding and host resistance, fungicide resistance, population genetics, plant microbe interactions, decision support systems and epidemiology. Andrew presented information regarding his PhD studies on the genetic population of downy mildew in Australia. He also presented a poster detailing the detection of downy mildew oospores in Western Australian vineyards. The complete program of presentations can viewed at http://gdpm2017.org/congress/program/.
Vineyard visits to the Willamette valley enabled workshop participants to gain an understanding of the production systems established in the region as well as current research being undertaken within them.
Post workshop training in population statistical analysis with students in the Grünwald lab, USDA/Oregon State University, was undertaken using the Poppr package in R. This training will aid in current PhD activities and potential new projects. Networks established here and at the workshop will provide for future research collaboration potential. Funding for the travel was provided by Wine Australia and Murdoch University. An article is in preparation for publication in an industry journal.