Abstract
Bacterial plant pathogens are often localized to specific tissues or within certain parts of their hosts following initial infection. In such cases, it may be possible to clear a plant of infection by removing the infected portion and retraining the plant from the base of the trunk. We tested the efficacy of severe pruning at clearing grapevines infections by Xylella fastidiosa, the causal agent of Pierce’s disease. We surveyed vines in six Northern California vineyards, rating vines on a 0 to 3 scale of disease severity. Next, we aggressively pruned vines by removing the trunk 10 cm above the graft union and followed their retrained canopies over time. Although 82% (284/346) of severely-pruned vines appeared disease free the following season, the prevalence of symptoms in conventionally-pruned control vines suggests that more than one third (112/324) of vines would have recovered, regardless – at least those with less advanced symptoms. Moreover, for five of the six vineyards, the majority of severely-pruned vines had Pierce’s disease symptoms by the time vines were retrained, two seasons post pruning (as high as 81%, 86/106; 71% overall, 245/346). These results suggest that severe pruning does not clear vines of X. fastidiosa infection to an extent that warrants its adoption for disease management.
- Received January 2018.
- Revision received February 2018.
- Accepted February 2018.
- Published online March 2018
- ©2018 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture
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