The annual Bacterial Leaf Streak (BLS) Research Initiative Meeting returned to the University of Minnesota campus from April 9-11, 2025. This meeting, which rotates between different hosting universities, connects national and international BLS researchers to share information and collaborate. Researchers who participated hailed from over eleven institutions in five countries: the United States, Canada, Uruguay, Belgium, and Switzerland.
BLS is a crop disease caused by the bacterial pathogen Xanthomonas translucens that impacts popular grain crops like wheat and barley. This pathogen has become increasingly prevalent in the upper Midwest, gaining increased attention at UMN and other research universities, but much is still unknown, hence the need for collaboration across programs.
Maté cups and collaboration
Several participating researchers sipped from maté cups throughout the meeting. For those unfamiliar, these rounded cups with a metal straw are customary in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and the surrounding countries for consuming maté, a steeped herbal beverage rich in caffeine. Cups of maté are traditionally passed and shared in social environments between friends, family, or peers.
Maté was passed at the BLS Initiative Meeting, but so were new findings, pathogen genetic information, management and surveying advice, and other resources for better understanding and managing BLS. Participants including faculty, University staff and students, government-funded researchers, and industry representatives came together as peers to share knowledge, particularly in the built-in discussions, in which a designated notetaker created a note sheet that later became available to the whole group.
UMN research scientist Rebecca Curland co-founded the BLS Meetings because she was aware of research on BLS happening at several universities, but without any meaningful structure of collaboration in which researchers could enhance research productivity for the good of food security and sustainability. She and Jonathan Jacobs, an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University, took action to create a meeting that would allow BLS researchers from a variety of institutions of research and education to share research findings, best practices, and other information that can collaboratively advance our ability to control this plant disease.
More than four years after its founding, the BLS Research Initiative has grown to include an annual meeting, an online network of researchers, and an executive committee with plans for future resources and collaborations.
The meeting has become a reliable place for BLS researchers to engage and learn. As attendee Dr Dilantha Fernando of University of Manitoba put it: “I have to say, out of all the conferences I get to attend, this is the most enjoyable. The reason is, it is a small group, people share ideas, well organized with great sessions and lots of fantastic ideas to take back. Many thanks and look forward to another great one in 2026.”
Meeting magic
The 2025 meeting featured over 20 presentations, morning socials and refreshments, special topic discussions, awards for early-career presenters, and an evening brewery outing in Saint Paul.
Outstanding Talk awardees were Felipe Clavijo (Universidad de la República, Uruguay), Yoonjung “Yoony” Lee (University of Minnesota), and Marcus Merfa (The Ohio State University).
Yoony reflected on the value of the meeting to her growth as a researcher: “It was a great opportunity to connect with people who work on BLS. We shared a lot of useful information, and I got new ideas that can help improve my research.”
Many UMN personnel stepped up in and around this meeting. Event logistics, refreshments, and space management were coordinated by Curland, Andy Read, and Beheshteh Zargaran. Presentations were given by Adelaide Hazen, Emily Conley, Yoonjung Lee, and Jim Anderson. Curland, Hazen, and Haidyn Larsen were moderators for portions of the programming.
The BLS Research Initiative Executive Committee also did essential work in making the meeting happen. This included Curland and Jonathan Jacobs (OSU), Andy Read (USDA-ARS, UMN), Gazala Ameen (SDSU), Robyn Roberts (CSU), Tom Baldwin (NDSU), and Liz Brauer (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada).
Funding was provided by CFANS and PLPA.