Insight into the population dynamics of pathogenic bacteria causing grapevine crown gall in snowfall areas: snow cover protects the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria

Akira Kawaguchi; Manabu Nemoto; Sunao Ochi; Yosuke Matsushita; Tomoyuki Sato; Teruo Sone

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1198710

Insight into the population dynamics of pathogenic bacteria causing grapevine crown gall in snowfall areas: snow cover protects the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jun 12:14:1198710. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1198710. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Akira Kawaguchi¹, Manabu Nemoto², Sunao Ochi³, Yosuke Matsushita³, Tomoyuki Sato⁴, Teruo Sone⁴

Affiliations

¹ Western Region Agricultural Research Center (WARC) (Kinki, Chugoku and Shikoku Regions), National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Fukuyama, Japan.
² Hokkaido Agricultural Research Center (HARC), National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Sapporo, Japan.
³ Institute of Plant Protection, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NIPP), Tsukuba, Japan.
⁴ Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.

Abstract

Grapevine crown gall (GCG) is a significant bacterial disease caused by tumorigenic Allorhizobium vitis (TAV) and is prevalent worldwide. TAV infects grapevines through wounds such as freezing injuries. Although grapevines typically avoid being wounded under snow cover, GCG occurs in many commercial vineyards in snowy regions. This study investigated the TAV population in GCG gall tissues, grapevine skins, and snow on grapevine skins from six infected vineyards located in Hokkaido, Japan, an area known for heavy snowfall. TAV was isolated not only from gall tissues but also from skins and snow on skins throughout the year. Hierarchical Bayesian model (HBM) analysis revealed that the number of TAV cells in gall tissues was affected by cultivar and low temperature, while those in skins were affected by location and low temperature. Additionally, Bayesian changepoint detection (BCD) showed that the number of TAV cells in gall and skin tissues increased during winter, including the snowfall season. Furthermore, the TAV population in grapevine skins under the snow was significantly higher than those above the snow, indicating that TAV under the snow is protected by the snow and can survive well during the snowfall season. This study highlights the ability of TAV to overwinter on/in galls and skins under the snow and act as inoculum for the next season.

Keywords: Bayesian changepoint detection; Hierarchical Bayesian Model; grapevine crown gall; under the snow; vineyards and plant-insect relationship.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, KAKENHI Grants 17H03778, 20K20572, and 21K05606 from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan to A. Kawaguchi.