Building knowledge, protecting plant health

The 3rd EFSA European Conference on Xylella fastidiosa and final meeting of the XF-ACTORS project will be held online between 26-30 April 2021.

Registrations are now closed!

The meeting of XF-ACTORS, the EU Horizon 2020 research project devoted to this plant pathogenic bacterium, will precede the conference, which is organised by EFSA and XF-ACTORS with the active contribution of the major EU research initiatives tackling X. fastidiosa – BIOVEXO, CURE-XF, ERC MultiX, EUPHRESCO, EUROXANTH, and Life Resilience.

The event will comprise the XF-ACTORS meeting, the European conference, and a stakeholder session. A parallel e-poster session will be held online.

The presentations and discussions will take stock of the results from research that has taken place since X. fastidiosa was first detected in Europe in 2013. During this period, scientists have filled knowledge gaps on the distinctive elements of the outbreaks in the EU, consolidated a resilient network for monitoring and testing, and achieved results that have supported and influenced the activities of researchers, stakeholders and policy makers.

The conference programme will reflect the multidisciplinary strategy that has been pursued in research. The sessions and discussions will include the latest findings, data and knowledge on X. fastidiosa as a pathosystem, including host plants, vectors, ecosystems, possible control solutions, and its environmental and socio-economic impact.

The conference sessions and discussions will cover the latest findings, data and knowledge on X. fastidiosa as a pathosystem, including:

• Pathogen biology, ecology and genetics;
• Epidemiology and modeling of X. fastidiosa diseases;
• Host plant-interactions and search for resistant/tolerant germplasm;
• Surveillance and early detection tools;
• Vectors biology and control;
• Endophytic microbial resources and their potential applications for X. fastidiosa control;
• Sustainable management strategies for prevention and reduction of the impact of X. fastidiosa diseases.

Registration and call for abstracts

Researchers on Xylella-related topics are invited to register and to submit an abstract for oral presentation or e-poster. There is no registration fee for the conference.

The Scientific Committee will accept a maximum of 1000 participants. Please note that if the maximum number of participants is reached, priority will be given to participants with an active role and to ensure a geographical, gender and institutional balance.

Registration and abstract submission close on 14 March 2021. Confirmation of acceptance will be sent by the end of March 2021. By registering to the event, accepted participants will be able to attend the entire programme of the conference which include:

• 26-27-28 (afternoon – CET): XF-ACTORS final meeting

• 29-30 (CET): European conference on Xylella fastidiosa and stakeholder session

The final programme will be published at a later stage on this page.

E-poster session

An online e-poster session will be held through the entire length of the conference. E-posters accepted will be published through EFSA corporate accounts on Twitter and Zenodo. Please note that these are open access platforms and that e-posters will be publicly available for download. Authors of accepted posters will receive detailed technical guidelines on how to prepare and submit their e-poster.

Young researcher’s initiative

To be considered for this initiative, early-career researchers must:

• be a presenter of an accepted e-poster presentation;
• be a PhD student or an early career investigator (i.e. someone who has obtained their PhD/doctorate (full-time equivalent) within the past eight years);
• be affiliated to a public institute or higher education institute;

Contact points

info@xfactorsproject.eu | Xylella_conference@efsa.europa.eu