The MPP best poster competition at the International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Sorrento, Italy

The International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions was held in the Hilton Palace Hotel, Sorrento in July 2007. This was an ideal venue to promote MPP and we organised a couple of events including a best poster prize. However, we hadn’t realised what a mammoth task this would be. The sheer scale of the conference (around 1200 delegates and 1000 posters) meant that the posters were split into two sessions over the week. The daunting task of judging went to MPP Senior Edtiors Jim Alfano, Mary Beth Mudgett and Thorsten Nuernberger. Our judging criteria were that the winning poster had to grab them both visually and scientifically. Armed with pen and paper, we sent our Senior Editors off into the massed ranks of poster boards. We really must commend our Senior Editors on a heroic effort. The posters were spread far and wide in different areas of the hotel and the ambient temperature in some places was way above comfortable. Air conditioning is a wonderful thing, but it was not able to cope with lots of people and lots of poster boards. It reached 30˚C in one of the poster halls and bottled water had to be brought in to revive wilting delegates. When we reconvened Gary and Diane were anticipating a lengthy debate, but on both occasions the judges picked a clear winner and the decisions were swift.

We had originally planned to have a first and second prize, but having seen the quality of both winning posters it seemed silly to rank them. Instead we awarded two first prizes, one from each session. Both posters contained interesting science presented in a strong and stimulating way. The MPP best poster prize was awarded jointly to:

Poster 106, Isolation and characterisation of the pepper BS3 resistance gene by Patrick Römer, Simone Hahn, Tina Jordan, Tina Strauss, Heidi Scholze, Ulla Bonas and  Thomas Layhaye. Department of Biology Martin-Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, Germany. patrick.roemer@genetik.uni-halle.de	Poster 518, AVRPTOB mediates the degradation of the host Fen kinase to promote disease susceptibility by Tracy R. Rosebrock1,2, Lirong Zeng1, Jennifer J Brady1, Robert B. Abramovitch1,2, Fangming Xiao1 and Gregory Martin1,2. 1Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and 2Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA. tr8@cornell.edu

The Editor-in-Chief, Gary Foster, awarded cash prizes and certificates to Patrick and Tracy at the conference closing ceremony followed by a large round of applause.

Molecular Plant Pathology (MPP) journal reception at the International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Sorrento, Italy

The Molecular Plant Pathology journal held a drinks and nibbles reception at the MPMI Congress in Sorrento, Italy. MPP does not hold formal editor board meetings but does hold informal receptions of this kind and on this occasion its purpose was three-fold; to celebrate the success of the journal, to thank our Senior Editors and editorial board past and present, and to discuss the future direction and ambitions of the journal. The reception was sponsored by the BSPP and our publishers Wiley-Blackwell, with invitation extending to Senior Editors, editorial board members (and their families) along with BSPP and Wiley-Blackwell representatives. The venue was the sumptuous Pompei Room in the Hilton Palace Hotel. There were a range of drinks and nibbles and trays of canapés which appeared at your elbow as if by magic. Around forty delegates managed to set aside the many other social gatherings to attend our event.

The Editor in Chief, Gary Foster, gave a short speech welcoming everyone and thanking our Senior Editors and editorial board. We are particularly grateful to our initial line-up of Senior Editors including Ulla Bonas, Sarah Gurr and Richard Oliver, who helped launch and establish the journal. Many of our current Senior Editors were present including Jim Alfano, Sophien Kamoun, Mary Beth Mudgett, Thorsten Nuernberger and Ken Shirasu, together with many editorial board members. MPP is a team effort and it is the commitment and dedication of our Senior Editors and editorial board that make the journal possible. We have always tried to be a relaxed and informal outfit. We believe that working for a journal in any capacity should be fun, rewarding and straightforward.

Gary also acknowledged the ongoing support of the BSPP and Wiley-Blackwell, without which the journal would not exist. MPP gives both these organisations a high profile presence in the field of molecular plant pathology.

Much wine and beer was consumed along with the canapés, the guests chatted, gossiped and mingled, pausing only to look out over the spectacular views of the sun-soaked Sorrento coastline.

As Editorial Assistant, the evening was a great opportunity for me to meet the people I’ve been emailing on a weekly basis for years. Putting faces to names is really helpful. Discussions ranged over many non-work related topics but also manuscript copyflow, specific submissions to the journal, aspects of file capture and website design and the devastating effect of P. infestans on the potato crop at my allotment this year (rampant disease is discussed with such relish by pathologists). One of the most satisfying aspects of the evening was seeing people introducing themselves to each other. MPP is a multi-disciplinary journal so many people may not necessarily know each other. It was great to see new friendships and alliances being created during the evening. All too soon it was over and many groups of people wandered down into Sorrento for an evening meal, or just to eat Italian ice cream. The one cautionary note comes from our BSPP president Richard Cooper. Given the blistering heat of the Italian summer, it is never ever a good idea “to rehydrate on champagne”.

Dr Diane Hird, Editorial Assistant MPP Editorial Office

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