The 8th International Geminivirus Symposium and the 6th International ssDNA Comparative Virology Workshop was held in New Deli, India, on 7-10 November, 2016. The symposium presented an excellent platform for scientists in the related areas to discuss and share the latest developments in the subject of geminiviruses and ssDNA viruses of plants, animals and human beings. Director General ZHOU Xueping, Prof. YANG Qiuying and Associate Prof. YANG Xiuling, together with 180 scientists from all over the world, were present at the conference.

The Symposium and the Workshop are the largest international academic meetings in the areas of geminivirus and ssDNA viruses and have great influence in the world. The Synposium and the Workshop are usually held together every three years. The themes of this meeting covered diversity, evolution and pathogenicity, interaction between vector and virus, interaction between host plant and virus and the control strategy of virus diseases. DG ZHOU was invited to present a plenary talk on A calmodulin-like protein suppresses RNA silencing and promotes geminivirus infection by degrading SGS3 via the autophagy pathway in Nicotiana benthamiana. Dr. YANG Xiuling spoke on Functional analysis of an RNA silencing suppressor from Mulberry mosaic dwarf-associated virus.