Genetic diversity of Flavescence dor ée phytoplasmas at vineyard scale.

Genetic diversity of Flavescence dorée phytoplasmas at vineyard scale. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2019 Mar 15;: Authors: Rossi M, Pegoraro M, Ripamonti M, Abbà S, Beal D, Giraudo A, Veratti F, Malembic-Maher S, Salar P, Bosco D, Marzachì C Abstract To study the role of wild areas around the vineyards in the epidemiology of Flavescence dorée (FD) and track origin of new foci, two phytoplasma genetic markers, dnaK and malG, were developed for FD phytoplasma characterization. The two genes and the vmpA locus were used to genetically characterize FDp populations at seven agroecosystems of a wine-growing Italian region. Vitis vinifera, "gone-wild" V. vinifera and rootstocks, Clematis spp. and Scaphoideus titanus adults were sampled within and outside the vineyards. A range of genotypes infecting the different hosts of the FDp epidemiological cycle was found. FD-C type isolates were fairly homogeneous compared to FD-D ones. Most of the FD-D variability was described by malG sequence, and a duplication of this locus was demonstrated for this strain. Co-infection with FD-C and FD-D strains was rare, suggesting possible competition between the two. Similar levels of FDp genetic variation, recorded for grapevines or leafhoppers of cultivated and wild areas and co-occurrence of many FDp genotypes inside and outside the vineyards supported the importance of wild or abandoned Vitis spp. plants and associated S. titanus in the epidemiology of the...
Source: Applied and Environmental Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Environ Microbiol Source Type: research