Attendance at the 16th Meeting of the International Council for the Study of Virus and Virus-like Diseases of the Grapevine (ICVG), Dijon, France August-September 2009
Abstract
With funding from Wine Australia and SARDI, Dr Mark Sosnowski traveled to Chile to attend the 7th
International Workshop on Grapevine Trunk Diseases in Santa Cruz, Chile and to visit researchers at the University of Talca and the Catholic University of Chile. The objectives of the travel were to acquire the latest information on grapevine diseases, disseminate eutypa dieback research findings from Australia, develop and enhance international collaborations and promote a bid for Australia to host the 8th IWGTD in 2012.
New knowledge on grapevine disease research has been acquired to incorporate into GWRDC
projects along with ideas for modification of procedures which will improve the efficiency of current
research and strengthen future proposals. For example, there is need for further research to optimise application of pruning wound protection and provide data for registration of fungicides along with elucidating the effects of stress, caused by increasing temperatures and decreased water availability, on disease. Collaborative links were strengthened with researchers from organisations around the world particularly at the Universities of Talca and the Catholic University of Chile.
Recommendations include the incorporation of acquired information on grapevine diseases into
GWRDC projects and proposals for new collaboration, particularly on eutypa dieback. Several
opportunities for international collaboration in Chile, Spain and the US have been identified and
proposals are being initiated.
Summary
Dr. Fiona Constable attended the 16th Meeting of the International Council for the Study of Virus and Virus-like Diseases of the Grapevine (ICVG), Dijon, France August-September 2009 as part of a travel grant awarded by Wine Australia. During the conference Dr. Constable presented results from the Wine Australia funded project entitled “Development and validation of diagnostic protocols for the detection of endemic and exotic pathogens of grapevines” (Project number: DPI05/04). Two papers were presented:
“A survey for endemic and exotic viruses of Australian grapevines” by Fiona Constable, Phil Nicholas, Narelle Nancarrow and Brendan Rodoni
“Development and validation of sampling strategies for the detection of endemic viruses of Australian grapevines” by the same authors.
Both presentations generated considerable interest in the area grapevine virus diagnostic techniques. In particular, there was interest from various researchers about the sampling strategies, extraction technology and PCR techniques for grapevine virus detection that were developed within the Wine Australia funded project. Contact was made with many other scientists engaged in grapevine virus and virus-like disease research and collaborative opportunities explored.
The knowledge gained as a result of this travel will be considered for inclusion within the current Wine Australia funded project, where relevant. Future projects will be developed where applicable. Publication of a review article about the highlights of the 16th ICVG is being written in collaboration with Dr. Nuredin Habili (Waite Diagnostics) and Dr. Judit Monis (STA Laboratories, Gilroy, CA, USA) and will be published, locally and internationally, in non-peer reviewed grower journals.
Highlights from the meeting include:
There are now 60 taxonomically recognized viruses, 10 phytoplasmas and six viroids reported to infect grapevines world-wide.
There may be a rationalisation of the grapevine leafroll associated virus taxonomy, resulting in less formally recognised species
Several of the new virus species but their association with disease is not known and this has important implications for quarantine and certification programs.
Full length infectious clones of GRSPaV and GVA are being constructed and will be used as a tool in the functional genomics of grapevines and to elucidate the roles of specific virus genes in grapevine-virus interactions.
Links were forged and potential collaborations were discussed with Dr. Nicola Fiore and Dr. Baozhong Meng who work in the areas of grapevine virus diagnostics and grapevine-virus interactions respectively.
Dr. Constable was asked to represent Australasia to assist with the ICVG publications list.