The 4th International Mycovirus Symposium was held at Huazhong Agricultural University from October 11 to 14. About 100 experts, including 37 scholars from the United States, Japan, Korea, Spain and Italy, together with some graduate students, attended the Symposium.

Prof. Jiang Daohong chaired the opening session. He started with the history background of the Symposium and introduced the experts in attendance. Dr. Gao Chi, vice president of HZAU, delivered a welcome speech on behalf of our university. He presented the current development of mycovirus-related studies and pointed out that the Symposium is a grand academic event in the field of mycovirus.  It will enhance our university’s academic contribution to research in mycovirus internationally. Prof. Nobuhiro Suzuki of Okayama University, Japan, gave the opening speech. Mr. Reed Wickner, professor of National Institute of Health and member of National Academy of Sciences, and Prof. Donald Nuss, from University of Maryland, USA,  gave keynote lectures respectively on Anti-Prion Systems in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Hypovirus research: from wandering spot to super mycovirus donor strains.

During the Symposium, experts, including Prof. Jiang and Prof. Suzuki, exchanged ideas on a number of subjects, such as mycovirus diversity, virus classification and evolution, virus-host interaction and biological control of virus, with 35 academic reports presented.  Prof. Jiang provided a summary of the Symposium and the recent development in mycovirus research.  He also highlighted major topics in future research.  This symposium not only provided the opportunity for researchers to communicate, but also built a good platform for international collaboration.

The International Mycovirus Symposium is an academic meeting organized by researchers of mycovirus.  It is held every three years, with the first (2008) and the second (2011) held in Japan.  Prof. Jiang Daohong et al bid for the forth during their participation in the third (2014) held in United States. Our university has conducted research in mycovirus for over 20 years.  We have developed a great research group in that field and have published a number of research papers in international periodicals including PNAS, Annual Review Phytopathology, PLoS Pathogens, and Journal of Virology. These achievements earned us an excellent reputation among international colleagues.

                                                                                                                   Translated by Pan Mengting