1. Exploration of Alternative Hosts for Grapevine red blotch -associated virus
Victoria Poplaski1
Elizabeth Cieniewicz2
and Marc F. Fuchs2
1
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074
2
Section of Plant Pathology and Plant Microbe Biology, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University,
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, NY 14456
Grapevine red blotch-associated virus (GRBaV) of Vitis sp. is a putative new member of the family Geminiviridae.
The complete sequence of the GRBaV genome was published in 2012 and the virus has since been detected in all
major grape-growing regions of the United States, likely due to transmission via infected propagation material and
grafting. GRBaV is also transmitted by the three cornered alfalfa treehopper (Spissistilus festinus Say). S. festinus is
not a pest of grapevine, but can cause economic losses in fabaceous crops, including soybean, alfalfa, and peanut.
Some fabaceous species are sown in vineyard row middles as cover crops. This warrants the evaluation of their
potential to host GRBaV. A major objective of this project was to inoculate fourteen varieties of fabaceous plants
with an infectious bitmer clone of GRBaV via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated infection. After two and four
weeks, petioles were collected and tested for GRBaV by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
to verify virus infection. Any legume species that tests PCR positive for GRBaV will be further examined for its
potential as a reservoir for S. festinus-mediated transmission. This research is important to better understand the
epidemiology of GRBaV.