Discovery of a locus associated with susceptibility to Esca in grapevine

Discovery of a locus associated with susceptibility to Esca in grapevine

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FM esca

Esca is the most destructive and prevalent grapevine trunk disease. The chronic infections and vine mortality caused by Esca syndrome result in significant economic losses and endanger the sustainability of vineyards worldwide. Although differences in susceptibility to Esca have already been observed between grapevine varieties, no genetic factors explaining these variations had been identified until now. Based on destructive phenotyping of a sixteen-year-old Riesling × Gewurztraminer progeny a locus on chromosome 1 of the Gewurztraminer grape variety linked to variations in trunk necrosis associated with Esca was identified. This locus, named ‘Esca Necrosis Susceptibility 1’ (ENS1), is the first genetic factor identified to be linked to Esca.

Publication: Plant Disease doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-24-1258-RE
Contact: Guillaume Arnold