CULTURE-INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS OF ENDOPHYTIC MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN GRAPEVINE IN RELATION TO PIERCES DISEASE

• Author(s): Borneman, James; Cooksey, Donald;
• Abstract: Culture-independent, nucleic acid-based methods of assessing microbial diversity in natural environments have revealed far greater microbial diversity than previously known through traditional plating methods. If true for grapevines, then this has important consequences for Pierces disease (PD) management strategies that involve the establishment of introduced bacteria systemically in the grapevine xylem. Such establishment will likely be influenced by the presence of yet uncharacterized microorganisms, and knowledge of endophytic communities and their dynamics will therefore be important to the successful implementation of these strategies. In addition, analysis of microbial community composition in different hosts and conditions could lead to the identification of new biological control agents. We are employing a novel method, called oligonucleotide fingerprinting of rRNA genes (OFRG), that was recently developed by the Co-PI for analyzing microbial community composition in environmental samples. In a replicated comparison of symptomatic and asymptomatic grapevines, 558 OFRG fingerprint clusters, or taxonomic groups, were revealed in an analysis of 8,094 total clones, and several clusters were significantly correlated with healthy vs. diseased plants.
• Publication Date: Dec 2005
• Journal: 2005 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium