For the researchers of rice blast disease and plant blast resistances, IRBC is an important chance to exchange information and discussion on rice blast, which has been a rather minor topic on international plant pathological meetings. Especially for those in Asia, where the blast is one the most important agricultural concerns, IRBC was a unique opportunity to discuss on rice blast with scientists in the West, in where it is achieving the positions of a model pathogen and a model system to study plant microbe interactions. However, I and probably many of Japanese blast researchers have felt...

For the researchers of rice blast disease and plant blast resistances, IRBC is an important chance to exchange information and discussion on rice blast, which has been a rather minor topic on international plant pathological meetings. Especially for those in Asia, where the blast is one the most important agricultural concerns, IRBC was a unique opportunity to discuss on rice blast with scientists in the West, in where it is achieving the positions of a model pathogen and a model system to study plant microbe interactions. However, I and probably many of Japanese blast researchers have felt...