7.02.10 - Pine wilt disease

UNIT NOTICEBOARD

2022-02-21

Call for Papers for Open Collection: Advances in the understanding of the pine wilt disease and in its management strategy

Guest editors: Christelle Robinet (INRAE) and Géraldine Roux-Morabito (Univ. Orléans). 

The pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is an important threat to pine trees together with its insect vector (Monochamus spp.). To understand the susceptibility of pine trees requires multidisciplinary approaches gathering experts in nematology, entomology, tree resistance, ecology, genetics and modelling. So far, keys for eradicating the pine wood nematode are missing but ongoing researches provide new insights in this complex mechanism that could help refining the management strategy and improving its effectiveness.

Authors who presented their results in the frame of the IUFRO symposium on pine wilt disease (Nov 2021) are particularly encouraged to submit manuscripts related to their talk!

Submission deadline: 31 May 2022

Details: https://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/pine

View all entries

Coordinator:

Luís Bonifacio, Portugal

Deputies:

Hyerim Han, Korea (Rep)

Katsunori Nakamura-Matori, Japan

Christelle Robinet, France

Jianghua Sun, China

About Unit

The focus of our Working Party is a single forest disease, pine wilt disease (PWD), which is a unique feature of the Unit.  The Working Party serves as an information exchange to advance understanding of PWD as an insect-borne infectious challenge to pine trees and pine ecosystems and to advance control strategies and tactics.  Membership includes scientists from fields such as entomology, nematology, pathology, genetics and tree physiology, as well as government officials involved with regulatory and control aspects of the disease.  The Working Party aims to facilitate an international exchange of information on the all aspects of PWD.

Meetings are held every 3-4 years with the site alternating between Europe and Asia.  Satellite meetings are held, as needed, on an irregular basis.


State of Knowledge

Early studies on pine wilt were conducted in Japan as it was the first county to suffer epidemic losses of forest trees.  In the 1980s the origin of the pinewood nematode was determined to be North America and studies of the nematode, its pathogenicity and its insect vectors were undertaken also in the U.S. and Canada.  Basic information on the biology of the nematode and its insect vectors has been summarized in a number of review articles and books.

The range of the PWN has been extended through international trade and was identified in other Asian countries in the 1980s.  Its range expanded to Europe (Portugal) in 1999. Different host tree species, insect vectors and environmental conditions in the newly introduced area required a new series of investigations.  In addition, advances in taxonomy of Bursaphelenchus nematodes drove studies in related fields. Control measures of PWD, including biological agents and newly devised attractants for the vectors, have been a main subject of the discussion.  Detection and interception of the nematode in relation to international plant protection is a current topic of importance.