Poster: Diseases of Plants: New & Emerging Diseases
585-P
Survey for viruses of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) in coastal vineyards of Croatia
D. VONCINA (1), M. Al Rwahnih (2), A. Rowhani (2), R. Almeida (3) (1) Department of Plant Pathology, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture, Croatia; (2) Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis, U.S.A.; (3) Department of Enviro
Viticulture in Croatia has a very long tradition representing an important branch of the national economy. Approximately 70 grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars are considered to be autochthonous and are mostly grown in Croatian coastal region. Virus diseases of grapevines generally have a worldwide distribution and some have significant impact on vineyard longevity as well as quality and quantity of the fruit. This survey was initiated due to the limited data about the presence of economically most important viruses in Croatia. A survey was done on 10 autochthonous grapevine cultivars on a total of 48 vines from 22 vineyards. Extraction of total RNA was done from leaf petioles collected in August 2015 and vines were tested on the presence of 32 viruses by RT-qPCR. The most common virus found was GLRaV-3 (91,7%), followed by GVA and GRSPaV (81,3%), GFkV (68,8%), ArMV and GLRaV-1 (33,3%), GVB (10,4%), GPGV (8,3%) and GLRaV-2 (4,2%). Six viruses were detected for the first time in Croatia: GRVFV (14,6%), GRGV (12,5%), viruses from GLRaV-4 group, GVD and GVF (6,3%) and GSyV-1 (2,1%). Mixed infections were also common in individual grapevines. The survey indicates a poor sanitary status of autochthonous grapevine cultivars, demonstrating the necessity to extend work on sanitary selection programs.