Grapevine trunk diseases caused by Eutypa, Botryosphaeria, and many other species of fungi, affect vineyards worldwide. Symptoms of these diseases include canker, dieback, slow decline, and vine death, all of which increase production costs and yield losses. Several groups of fungi cause trunk diseases in older vineyards (>10 years). Young vine decline (Petri disease or young esca)-associated pathogens and Botryosphaeria have been observed in newly planted vineyards as well. Early and accurate diagnosis plays an important role in facilitating the growers to take proactive cultural and chemical measures in order to tackle the trunk disease problem.

The Traditional Approach: Microbiological Plating

Microbiological plating (ISO-ID) is one of the major approaches for plant disease diagnosis, and usually requires the pieces of infected plant tissue be placed on various nutrient media. After incubation, the organisms are identified by experienced diagnosticians based on their characteristics of vegetative growth/fruiting structures, colony morphology, and growing habits on the selective media.

Introducing qPCR Tests in Conjunction with Traditional Techniques

We are actively developing and improving our qPCR tests to incorporate with traditional plating techniques for a higher detection sensitivity and shorter turn around.

The use of Taqman and SYBR- Green chemistries has improved the detection by providing a wider detection range and higher (approx. 100-1000x) sensitivity, making the Real-time PCR more reliable and cost-effective approach compared to traditional PCR.