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Biological Control of Crown Gall in Grapevines

Detailed Technology Description
The invention offers a biological control for crown gall disease on grapevines.
Others

  • Patent allowed in the U.S. 20150105255
  • Zheng, D. & al. (2016). Inhibition of grape crown gallby Agrobacterium vitis strain F2/5 requires two non-ribosomal peptidesynthetases and one polyketide synthase. MolecularPlant - Microbe Interactions 29(2):109-18. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-07-15-0153-R.
*Abstract

The Agrobacterium vitis bacterium infects grape vines and causes crown gall disease that has characteristic knobby overgrowths. Galls form on the main trunk of vines, which disrupt translocation of water and nutrients from the roots, weakening the grape vine and increasing its susceptibility to diseases while reducing its productivity. A. vitis survives systemically in grapevines as well as in soil, thus it poses an ever-present risk for the plant developing crown gall disease. Since no chemical or biological controls have been effective on grapevines to date, this invention offers a unique and successful way to control a devastating and highly prevalent disease that inflicts severe economic losses to vineyards. 

 

Previous research identified a strain of A. vitis that is non-tumorigenic and prevents crown gall on grapevines, yet the side-effect of this strain is a necrosis that can be deleterious to graft callus and to root formation. Cornell researchers identified and knocked out the genes that cause necrosis, resulting in several modified strains of the bacterium that prevent crown gall minus the necrosis. Greenhouse experiments showed the novel strains to be completely effective in eliminating crown gall to inoculated plants and did not cause necrosis.

 

The invention demonstrates the first time that A. vitis strains are effective as biological control of crown gall with elimination of the side-effect of necrosis.

 

Potential Applications

  • The biological control can be applied on graft unions in nurseries during the grafting process.
  • The biological control can be applied to the basal end of each grafted or non-grafted vine to control crown gall and to stimulate callus and root formation.
  • The biological control can be applied during field grafting of vines to prevent crown gall.
*Licensing
Jeff Fearn607-254-4502jcf55@cornell.edu
Country/Region
USA

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