The role of sucker wounds as portals for grapevine trunk pathogen infections

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Grapevine trunk diseases are responsible for reduced wine and table grape production world-wide. Trunk disease infections are caused by xylem-inhabiting pathogens which include species of Botryosphaeriaceae, Diatrypaceae, Hymenochaetales and Diaporthales, as well as Phaeomoniella chlamydospora and Phaeoacremonium spp. Winter pruning wounds are regarded as the main infection-sites for trunk disease pathogens. However, the role of sucker wounds as portals of trunk disease infections has been minimally investigated. Knowledge of the potential role of grapevine trunk pathogen infections that occur through sucker wounds is important for better wound protection strategies. The aim of this study was to determine the role of grapevine sucker wounds as portals of entry for trunk disease pathogens and to assess the use of Trichoderma spp. for sucker wound protection.The susceptibility of sucker wounds to different trunk disease pathogens was assessed from natural as well as artificial infections. In addition the duration of sucker wound susceptibility in the field was also ascertained. Sucker wounds were sampled from three wine and two table grape vineyards during 2011 and 2012 in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Thereafter, fungal isolations were made from 161 sucker wounds and the cultures were identified based on cultural and morphological characteristics as well as the internal transcribed spacer regions and 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene. Sixty-two percent of the wounds were naturally infected by at least one of the trunk pathogens. Phomopsis (Po.) viticola (46%; 18%), Diplodia (D.) seriata (30%; 9%) and Phaeomoniella (Ph.) chlamydospora (27%; 5%) were the most predominant trunk disease pathogens isolated from sucker wounds of field wine and table grape cultivars, respectively. Lower incidences of Phaeoacremonium aleophilum (18%), Eutypella sp. (3%), Cryptovalsa ampelina (2%), Diplodia sp. (1%) and Neofusicoccum australe (1%) were obtained, however, only from wine grapes. Sucker wounds on 1-year-old potted grapevine plants of Chardonnay cultivar were inoculated with spore suspensions of Eutypa lata, N. parvum, Pa. aleophilum, Ph. chlamydospora and Po. viticola in the glasshouse. After 4 months all the inoculated pathogens could be re-isolated at the following incidences: N. parvum (85%), Ph. chlamydospora (75%), Po. viticola (65%), Pa. aleophilum (55%) and E. lata (45%). Sucker wound susceptibility was further ascertained under field conditions on 12-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon vines by artificial inoculation of the same pathogen species. After 5 months three pathogens could be re-isolated at the following incidences: Po. viticola (65%), N. parvum (32.5%) and Ph. chlamydospora (7.5%). The duration of susceptibility of field sucker wounds to Ph. chlamydospora was assessed for a period of 4 weeks. The wounds remained susceptible for 4 weeks with a decline in susceptibility after one week. This study showed that sucker wounds are susceptible to the major trunk disease pathogens and thus could play an important role in grapevine trunk disease epidemiology.In the second part of this thesis a possible management strategy to prevent infections of sucker wounds was investigated. The use of Trichoderma (T.) harzianum against two trunk pathogens on sucker wounds was tested in the field. Additionally the sensitivity of T. harzianum and T. atroviride was tested in vitro against 16 fungicides that are used to control powdery mildew, downy mildew, Botrytis rot and Phomopsis cane and leaf spot. In October 2012, sucker wounds were made on 1-year-old wood of Cabernet Sauvignon and spray-treated with Eco-77® immediately after desuckering, and then inoculated with spore suspensions of either Ph. chlamydospora or Po. viticola after 24 hours. After 5 months, isolations were made from the sucker wounds to evaluate the efficacy of the Trichoderma treatment. Trichoderma harzianum reduced the incidence of Ph. chlamydospora by 66.65%. Although the incidence of Po. viticola was reduced by 15.37%, it was not significantly different from the control treatment. The inhibition of mycelial growth and conidial germination of T. harzianum and T. atroviride were screened against 16 fungicides. The fungicides were applied at 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 times the recommended dosages. Systemic fungicides boscalid, metrafenone and trifloxystrobin, as well as contact fungicides quinoxyfen and meptyldinocap were least toxic to Trichoderma spp. isolates. For the conidial germination assay, boscalid, trifloxystrobin, penconazole and metrafenone (systemic) plus quinoxyfen and folpet (contact) were compatible with Trichoderma spp. These fungicides were regarded as being compatible with Trichoderma spp. isolates because they gave mean percentage inhibitions of less than 50% at all the tested dosages. Spiroxamine and pyrimethanil gave the highest mean percentage inhibitions for both mycelial inhibition and conidial germination. The findings of this study showed that T. harzianum can protect sucker wounds against Ph. chlamydospora in the field. Furthermore, some fungicides applied for the control of powdery mildew and Phomopsis cane and leaf spot can be alternatively or simultaneously applied with T. harzianum and T. atroviride, however, this will have to be verified with field trials.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University