Recently, Prof. Xiaofeng Wang from Virginia Tech visited the Institute of Plant Protection of JAAS. Prof. Wang has been engaged in the research on plant virus replication mechanisms and virus-host interactions at the College of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech. 

During his three-day visit, Prof. Wang joined in an academic seminar organized by the Crop Virus Prevention and Control Innovation Team of JAAS. After the reports on the research progress made by JAAS scientists, Prof. Wang provided his expertise on the current research undertaken by the Institute. To better serve the local production in Jiangsu Province, he also conducted field surveys on rice and watermelon and gave suggestions on field monitoring, early warning, and control techniques for virus diseases affecting rice and cucurbit crops.

Prof. Wang also shared his latest research by delivering an academic talk entitled “Protein, Lipid, and Membrane Interactions in Positive-Strand RNA Virus Genome Replication”, which was received by more than 40 researchers and graduate students from the Institute. The talk elaborated on the involvement of host factors, phospholipids, and biological membranes in the replication process of positive-strand RNA viruses and discussed strategies for plant antiviral defense by manipulating host factors. The talk was insightful and sparked lively discussions among the participants.