Prof. Teresa Coutinho presented an invited paper entitled “Bacterial wilt of Eucalyptus: an example of opportunism" at the 6^th International Bacterial Wilt Symposium (IBWS) held in Toulouse, France, from the 3-7 July 2016.  The symposium was attended by 106 leading scientists conducting research on bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum sensu lato and to a lesser extent on Xanthomonas wilt of banana, caused by X. campestris pv. musacearum.  There were approximately 40 oral presentations as well as numerous posters. Topics discussed ranged from ecology to management and there was also a strong focus on investigating the virulence mechanisms used by these two important plant pathogens to attack their hosts.