Survey of Vineyard Insects and Plants to Identify Potential Insect Vectors and Non-crop Reservoirs of Grapevine Red Blotch Virus

Grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) is a DNA virus in the family Geminiviridae. This pathogen is the causal agent of grapevine red blotch disease, which affects cultivated grapevines and leads to negative effects on crop quality and yield. GRBV is present in commercial vineyards across North America, indicating spread may have been largely human mediated. That said, recent surveys have demonstrated that there appears to be secondary transmission, most likely by an insect vector. Here, vineyard insects and plants were surveyed to identify potential candidate vectors and non-crop plants that may act as reservoirs for this pathogen. Results reconfirm that GRBV is limited to Vitis spp., including both cultivated and wild grapevines. Eleven insect genera or species, field collected in vineyards, tested positive for GRBV using quantitative PCR. These insect taxa include unknown Aphididae, the Cicadellids Aceratagallia spp., Acinopterus angulatus, Caladonus coquilleti, Colladonus montanus reductus, Colladonus sp., Empoasca spp., Erythroneura elegantula, and Scaphytopius graneticus, along with the Membracid Spissistilus festinus and an unknown Delphacid. Of these organisms, S. festinus is already known to be capable of transmitting GRBV while Scaphytopius graneticus may merit closer evaluation as a candidate vector.

Identification of grapevine Pinot gris virus in free-living Vitis spp. located in riparian areas adjacent to commercial vineyards

Grapevine Pinot gris virus (GPGV) is a recently identified pathogen of grapevines in California. To advance our knowledge about the epidemiology of GPGV, we investigated if free-living Vitis spp. can represent a source of virus infection. In 2019 a field survey of GPGV infection was conducted in Napa County. During the inspection 60 free-living vines in riparian habitats near commercial vineyards with GPGV infection were sampled. Samples were tested by real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), identifying 23 free-living Vitis spp. positive for GPGV. Later, GPGV infection was confirmed in these plants via end-point RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. Based on sequence analysis, detected GPGV isolates are more related to the asymptomatic variant of the virus. Vitis species ancestry was determined by DNA fingerprinting. GPGV-infected material included V. californica, V. californica × V. vinifera hybrids and hybrid rootstock cultivars. Here, GPGV is reported for the first time in free-living Vitis spp. The results of this study will support the development of management strategies for GPGV in California and beyond.

Grapevine vein clearing virus is prevalent and genetically variable in grape aphid (Aphis illinoisensis Shimer) populations

Grapevine vein clearing virus (GVCV) causes severe stunting and death of cultivated grapevines and is prevalent in native Vitis spp. and Ampelopsis cordata in the Midwest region of the USA. GVCV can be transmitted from wild A. cordata to Vitis spp. by grape aphid (Aphis illinoisensis) under greenhouse conditions, but its prevalence, genetic composition and genome number in native grape aphids are unknown. In this study, we collected grape aphids from native Vitaceae across the state of Missouri in 2018 and 2019, and conducted diagnostic, genetic and quantitative analyses. GVCV was detected in 91 (87%) of the 105 randomly sampled communities on 71 Vitaceae plants. It was present in 211 (40%) of 525 single grape aphids. Diverse GVCV variants from aphids were present on both GVCV-negative and -positive plants. Identical GVCV variants were found in grape aphids sampled from wild and cultivated Vitaceae, indicating that viruliferous aphids likely migrate and disperse GVCV variants among wild and cultivated Vitaceae. In addition, we found that the number of GVCV genomes varies largely in the stylet and body of individual aphids. Our study provides a snapshot of GVCV epidemics and genetic structure in its mobile vector and sessile hosts. This presents a good model for studying epidemiology, ecology and evolution of a plant virus.

How Do Novel M-Rootstock (Vitis Spp.) Genotypes Cope with Drought?

Most of the vineyards around the world are in areas characterized by seasonal drought, where water deficits and high temperatures represent severe constraints on the regular grapevine growth cycle. Although grapevines are well adapted to arid and semi-arid environments, water stress can cause physiological changes, from mild to irreversible. Screening of available Vitis spp. genetic diversity for new rootstock breeding programs has been proposed as a way for which new viticulture challenges may be faced. In 2014, novel genotypes (M-rootstocks) were released from the University of Milan. In this work, the behavior of M1, M3 and M4 in response to decreasing water availabilities (80%, 50% and 20% soil water content, SWC) was investigated at the physiological and gene expression levels, evaluating gas exchange, stem water potential and transcript abundances of key genes related to ABA (abscisic acid) biosynthesis (VvZEP, VvNCED1 and VvNCED2) and signaling (VvPP2C4, VvSnRK2.6 and VvABF2), and comparing them to those of cuttings of nine commercial rootstocks widely used in viticulture. M-rootstocks showed a change at physiological levels in severe water-stressed conditions (20% soil water content, SWC), reducing the stomatal conductance and stem water potential, but maintaining high photosynthetic activity. Water use efficiency was high in water-limiting conditions. The transcriptional changes were observed at 50% SWC, with an increment of transcripts of VvNCED1 and VvNCED2 genes. M-rootstocks showed similar behavior to 1103P and 110R rootstocks, two highly tolerant commercial genotypes. These rootstocks adopted a tolerant strategy to face water-stressed conditions.

Influência de fatores climáticos na dispersão aérea de Phakopsora euvitis Y. Ono na cultura da videira.

RESUMO A ferrugem da videira, uma das doenças mais importantes de Vitis spp., é manejada no Brasil seguindo um programa de calendário de pulverização de fungicidas. Apesar da utilização de fungicidas, as perdas de produção e qualidade das uvas devido à ferrugem da videira são elevadas. A doença causa queda de folhas, tamanho e cor desigual de bagas e perda de vigor das plantas para a próxima safra. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar a relação entre a dispersão de urediniósporos presente no ar e os parâmetros meteorológicos, para fins de manejo da doença. Para tanto, monitorou-se vinhedos com a cultivar Syrah, suscetível a ferrugem da videira, para determinar a dinâmica de dispersão aérea de Phakopsora euvitis. As armadilhas tipo cata-vento foram mantidas a 0,5 m acima do dossel da videira e as amostras coletadas a cada 24 h, com troca de lâminas as 09h 00min. As médias horárias da temperatura do ar, velocidade do vento, umidade relativa e precipitação foram também registradas. Modelo de regressão logística foi desenvolvido para estimar a probabilidade de dispersão de urediniósporos. As maiores concentrações de urediniósporos foram observadas entre abril e agosto, enquanto nos demais meses a concentração foi baixa ou zero. O modelo de regressão da concentração de urediniósporos disperso no ar em relação aos parâmetros climáticos foi descrito por logit (y) = 15,6668–0,6333(temperatura)+0,4291(velocidade do vento), e o limiar de decisão de valor 0,47 foi determinado para fins de previsão.