Genome replication and gene expression
Scientific Committee member / Keynote speaker: Judith Pénzes (Rutgers University, USA)
Additional Invited keynote: Paul C Kirchberger (Oklahoma State University, USA)
The session will focus on the mechanisms and strategies ssDNA viruses evolved to give rise to progeny viral particles. This may encompass aspects of ssDNA virus intracellular trafficking, transcription, translation, and the replication of the viral genome itself.
Structure, assembly and packaging
Scientific Committee member / Keynote speaker: Bentley Fane (University of Arizona, USA)
Additional Invited keynote: Susan Hafenstein (Pennstate Univ, USA)
The session will focus on virion structures, the structural analyses of viral interactions with antibodies, receptors, and other molecules; assembly mechanisms, and the unique properties associated with packaging single-stranded DNA.
Defense, counter-defence and pathogenicity
Scientific Committee member / Keynote speaker: Rosa Lozano-Duràn (Tübingen University, Germany)
Additional Invited keynote: Elizabeth Fontes (Univ Federal Viçosa, Brazil)
The session will focus on the host defence responses against ssDNA viruses as well as on the strategies deployed by these pathogens to evade or suppress anti-viral defence and promote pathogenicity.
Movement within and between hosts and vector transmission
Scientific Committee member / Keynote speaker: Xiao-Wei Wang (Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China)
Additional Invited keynote: Murad Ghanim (ORA, Volcani Institute, Israël)
The session will focus on the mechanisms and strategies of ssDNA virus movement, from local cell-to-cell transport, to long distance spread at tissue and whole plant level, to their transmission among host plants by insect vectors.
Mutation, recombination and evolution
Scientific Committee member / Keynote speaker: Mart Krupovic (Pasteur Institute, Paris, France)
Additional Invited keynote: Darren Martin (Univ Cape Town, South Africa)
The session will focus on the origin and evolution of ssDNA viruses as well as on different mechanisms which underlie their continuous diversification and adaptation.
Epidemiology
Scientific Committee member / Keynote speaker: Siobain Duffy (Rutgers, New Jersey, USA)
Additional Invited keynote: Tanja Opriessnig (Roslin Institute, UK)
The session will focus on the distribution and spread of ssDNA viruses and the diseases they cause, from molecular phylogenetics to landscape-level patterns.
Virus diversity and ecology
Scientific Committee member / Keynote speaker: Arvind Varsani (Arizona State University, USA)
Additional Invited keynote: Marta Canuti (University of Milan, Italy)
The session will focus of the diversity as well as the ecology of ssDNA viruses in various ecosystems. This session will also address ssDNA virus discovery.