A facility that maintains high-quality, virus-free plant materials and eliminates viruses and other pathogens of concern in grapevines is up and running at Brock University.<\/p>\n
The national grapevine germplasm repository project, led by Sudarsana Poojari, Senior Staff Scientist at Brock University\u2019s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI), is funded by the Ontario Grape and Wine Research Inc. (OGWRI), Canadian Grapevine Certification Network (CGCN-RCCV) and Brock University.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith changing climatic conditions and the need for new and agronomically improved grapevine varieties that suit local climatic conditions, it is critical for Ontario\u2019s grape and wine industry to have access to virus-free grapevine material of varieties that are both popular and of regional importance,\u201d says Poojari.<\/p>\n
Grapevines are vulnerable to infection from many different types of plant viruses, which are commonly spread in vineyards by planting new vines that have been propagated from infected grapevine material. Some viruses can be spread by certain species of insects in vineyards.<\/p>\n
Once a plant virus infects a grapevine, there is no cure, says Poojari. Some plant viruses negatively impact vine performance, reducing yield, fruit quality and over wintering success of the vine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to start with virus-free vines and to maintain them by following the best pest management practices,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to start with virus-infected vines and assume that they will do well in field conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poojari\u2019s lab uses a combination of virus detection and elimination methods on grapevines, including, but not limited to, heat therapy, microshoot tip tissue culture therapy and high throughput sequencing (HTS). \u201cThis process is proven successful in the certification program and meets the long-term certification standards set by CGCN-RCCV,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Microshoot tip tissue culture is a virus elimination technique where a tiny part of an apical shoot tip of a vine is cut off and grown under controlled conditions.<\/p>\n
HTS is a genomics-based test with the ability to detect all known and unknown viruses in grapevines with high accuracy and reliability. This genomic-based solution would replace more than 30 tests currently being performed on grapevines to look for diseases.<\/p>\n
Poojari\u2019s lab adopts the combination of microshoot tip tissue culture therapy and HTS to shorten the time required to generate virus-free grapevine material from about three years to 12 months or less, providing rapid access to valuable new varieties.<\/p>\n
In addition, Poojari also collaborates with Professor of Biological Sciences Ping Liang, who is developing a new grapevine genetic test to provide the \u201ctrue-to-type\u201d of grapevine material, also funded by OGWRI.<\/p>\n