Pierce's Disease
Research Updates

piercesdisease.cdfa.ca.gov

What is Pierce's Disease?

Pierce's Disease is a bacterial infection, which is spread by bugs that feed on grapevines, particularly the "glassy winged sharpshooter." Grapevines that become infected with PD can quickly become sick and die.

glassy-winged sharpshooter

Genomic analysis of Grapevine Retrotransposon 1 (Gret 1) in Vitis vinifera


  • Author(s): Barao, A.; Delgado, M.; Morais-Cecilio, L.; Pereira, H.; Viegas, W.;
  • Abstract: The complete sequence of the first retrotransposon isolated in Vitis vinifera, Gret 1, was used to design primers that permitted its analysis in the genome of grapevine cultivars. This retroelement was found to be dispersed throughout the genome with sites of repeated insertions. Fluorescent in situ hybridization indicated multiple Gret 1 loci distributed throughout euchromatic portions of chromosomes. REMAP and IRAP proved to be useful as molecular markers in grapevine. Both of these techniques showed polymorphisms between cultivars but not between clones of the same cultivar, indicating differences in Gret 1 distribution between cultivars. The combined cytological and molecular results suggest that Gret 1 may have a role in gene regulation and in explaining the enormous phenotypic variability that exists between cultivars.
  • Publication Date: Sep 2005
  • Journal: Theor Appl Genet