Evaluation of singlenode plantlets as a model system for grapevine trunk diseases

Abstract

Singlenode plantlets were evaluated as a model system for experiments on grapevine trunk diseases Experiments were conducted to determine how to grow the plantlets how Botryosphaeria sp and Eutypa lata symptoms were expressed in the plantlets compared with fieldgrown plants and how the detached singlenode plantlets (from living canes) responded compared with canes attached to vines under controlled conditions Singlenode plantlets could be grown in distilled water for up to 6 months Under controlled conditions significantly longer lesions formed on the singlenode plantlets than on attached canes suggesting that the singlenode system may be more sensitive to infection than whole vines The system shows promise for use in initial experiments on trunk diseases before field experiments are conducted but further work is required to validate the method