Inoculum sources of Botryosphaeriaceae species in New Zealand grapevine nurseries

• Published in: European journal of plant pathology 2013, Vol.135 (1), p.159-174
• Main Authors: Billones-Baaijens, R., Ridgway, H. J., Jones, E. E., Jaspers, M. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Crop diseases; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diplodia mutila; DNA; Ecology; Life Sciences; Plant Pathology; Plant Sciences; Polymorphism; Rain; Vitaceae
• ISSN: 0929-1873; 1573-8469
• DOI: 10.1007/s10658-012-0075-5

This study investigated the sources of inoculum of Botyosphaeriaceae species in three commercial grapevine nurseries in New Zealand. Botryosphaeriaceae propagules were detected on the surfaces of 33 to 100 % of canes and 33 % of dead grapevine materials using microscopy, plating assays and PCR with Botryosphaeriaceae multi-species primers (Bot100F/Bot472R). Isolations also showed that 15 to 68 % of the canes were internally infected by Botryosphaeriaceae species, with Neofusicoccum luteum and N. parvum being the most predominant species. Incidence varied between nurseries, with Nursery 5 having highest N. luteum incidence (53 %) and Nursery 3 having highest N. parvum incidence (88 %). Botryosphaeriaceae DNA was detected in rain-water run-off from the mother-vine canopy, but not in soil samples collected around infected mother-vines. However, samples from the nursery propagation stages had no visible or viable Botryosphaeriaceae propagules although PCR using multi-species primers detected Botryosphaeriaceae DNA from wash and hydration tanks, on grafting tools and in callusing media from the different nurseries. The single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) was able to identify N. parvum , N. luteum and Diplodia mutila as the most common species present in the nursery system. Overall results indicated that the canes grown in mother-vine blocks were the most likely source of inoculum for infection of young grafted plants by Botryosphaeriaceae species.