Grapevine copper

Widespread use of plant protection agents in agriculture is a major cause of pollution. Apart from active ingredients, the environmental impact of auxiliary synthetic polymers should be minimized if they are highly persistent. An alternative to synthetic polymers is the use of natural polysaccharides, which are abundant and biodegradable. In this study, we explore pectin microgels functionalized with anchor peptides (P-MAPs) to be used as an alternative biobased pesticide delivery system. Using complexed Cu2+ as the active ingredient, P-MAPs effectively prevented infection of grapevine plants with downy mildew under semi-field conditions on par with commercial copper pesticides...

Vineyards, covering over seven million hectares worldwide, hold significant socio-cultural importance. Traditionally reliant on conventional practices and agrochemicals, this agroecosystem faces environmental challenges, including soil and water pollution. Sustainable viticulture, driven by eco-friendly practices and cost reduction, has gained prominence, underlining the importance of biological control agents such as entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs). EPNs naturally occurr in vineyard soils and play a crucial role in controlling pest damage...

Copper containing fungicides are used in agriculture since 1885. The divalent copper ion is a non-biodegradable multi-site inhibitor, which has a strictly protective, non-systemic effect on plants. Copper-containing plant protection products currently approved in Germany contain copper oxychloride, copper hydroxide and tribasic copper sulphate. Copper is primarily used to control oomycete pathogens in grapevine, hop, potato and fungal diseases in fruit production. In the environment, copper is highly persistent and toxic to non-target organisms...

The high susceptibility of European grapevine cultivars to downy mildew (DM) and powdery mildew (PM) causes the intensive use of fungicides. Fungus-resistant cultivars (FRCs) with different resistance ( R ) loci have been bred and could play an important role in reducing plant protection treatments (PPTs). However, little information is available about the extent to which PPTs can be reduced in the field through the use of FRCs and the associated economic advantages. In this study, different strategies with reduced PPTs on FRCs were tested in field experiments...

Downy mildew (DM; Plasmopara viticola) is amongst the most severe fungal diseases in viticulture and the reason for the majority of fungicide applications. To reduce synthetic and copper-based fungicides, there is an urgent need for natural alternatives, which are being increasingly tested by the industry and the research community. However, their mode of action remains unclear. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the transcriptomic changes induced by oregano essential oil vapour (OEOV) in DM-infected grapevines...

Downy mildew is one of the most destructive diseases affecting grapevines ( Vitis vinifera L.). Caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola (Berk. and Curt.) Berl. and de Toni, it can appear anywhere where vines are cultivated. It is habitually controlled by the application of phytosanitary agents (copper-based or systemic) at different stages of the vine growth cycle. This, however, is costly, can lead to reduced yields, has a considerable environmental impact, and its overuse close to harvest can cause fermentation problems...

BACKGROUND: Chemical products against fungi and oomycetes pose serious environmental issues. In the last decade, the use of less impacting active ingredients was encouraged to reduce chemical inputs in viticulture. In this study, the effect of different antifungal compounds on grapevine agronomic, physiological, and molecular responses in the vineyard was evaluated in addition to protection against powdery and downy mildews. RESULTS: In two years and in two Vitis vinifera cultivars (Nebbiolo and Arneis), a conventional crop protection approach, based on traditional fungicides (sulphur and copper), was compared to combined strategies...

Xanthomonas citri pv. viticola (Xcv) is the causal agent of bacterial canker in grapevine. The pathogen is restricted to India, where it was first reported in the 1970s, and Brazil. In the present study, we report the first complete genome sequence of Xcv LMG965, which is a reference pathotype strain. We also report genome sequences of additional isolates from India and comparative genome-based studies of isolates from Brazil. Apart from revealing the monophyletic origin of the pathovar, we could also confirm a common frameshift mutation in a gene that is part of the Xanthomonadin pigment biosynthetic gene cluster in all the isolates...

BACKGROUND: Organic viticulture seeks sustainable alternatives for eco-toxic copper fungicides to control downy mildew caused by Plasmopara viticola. (Poly)phenol-rich extracts of agricultural byproducts are known to possess antifungal activity, but high production costs often limit their actual implementation. RESULTS: Herein, we developed and produced novel ligninsulfonate-based grape cane extract formulations and an apple extract on pilot plant scale, including a detailed (poly)phenol characterization by HPLC-PDA-MS...

Fungal pathogens involved in grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) may infect grapevines throughout their lifetime, from nursery to vineyard, via open wounds in stems, canes or roots. In vineyards, pruning wound protection products (PWPPs) offer the best means to reduce the chance of infection by GTD fungi. However, PWPPs may affect non-target microorganisms that comprise the natural endophytic mycobiome residing in treated canes, disrupting microbial homeostasis and indirectly influencing grapevine health. Using DNA metabarcoding, we characterized the endophytic mycobiome of one-year-old canes of cultivars Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah in two vineyards in Portugal and Italy and assessed the impact of established and novel PWPPs on the fungal communities of treated canes...

Grapevine (Vitis spp.) is one of the most cultivated fruit plants in the world. Vineyard growers apply copper-based products in these crops to prevent fungal diseases, generating worries about Cu contamination in soils and food. In this context, this study identifies prokaryotic communities associated with grapevine plants grown under different levels of Cu-contaminated soils. Moreover, the study isolates new bacteria to improve Cu resistance in plants. Soil Cu content correlated inversely with operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to the groups Acidobacteria (SubGroup 2), Latescibacteria, Pedosphaeraceae, and Candidatus Udaeobacter...

BACKGROUND: In the recent years, biofungicides have drawn increasing interest in vineyard for a more sustainable integrated and copper-limited pest management. Among alternatives, botanicals could represent valuable tools, being rich sources of biologically active compounds. Conversely to the well-known antioxidant and biological properties in relation to health benefits, investigation on bioactivity of hot pungent Capsicum sp. products against fungal phytopathogens in vineyard is still scarce...

Downy and powdery mildews are major grapevine diseases. In organic viticulture, a few fungicides with protectant activities (copper and sulphur in particular) can be used, and their preventative application frequently leads to unneeded spraying. The adoption of an epidemiological disease forecasting model could optimise the timing of treatments and achieve a good level of disease protection. In this study, the effectiveness of the EPI (Etat Potentiel d'Infection) model in predicting infection risk for downy and powdery mildews was evaluated in nine organic vineyards located in Panzano in Chianti (FI), over a 2-year period (2020-2021)...

The phenolic composition of Syrah and Chardonnay grape pomaces was studied to assess their antioxidant and prooxidant properties. Polyphenols were extracted by a "green" hydroalcoholic solvent (ethanol/water 1:1 v / v ), and a detailed chemical and electrochemical characterization of the phenolic compounds was performed. The antioxidant and prooxidant capacity of the pomace was first studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and other reference analytical assays, then with biological tests on B16F10 metastatic melanoma cancer cells...

For many years, copper-based fungicides have been used in viticulture and have contributed to increasing concentrations in soils. Today, it is not uncommon to find vineyard soils with total copper topsoil concentrations above 100 mg kg-1 , which may have consequences for both the environment and human health. Phytoremediation, the use of plants to remove heavy metals from soils, is a promising and environmentally-friendly method to extract copper from soils. The objectives of this study were to review and synthesise the current knowledge on copper phytoremediation in vineyard soils and identify future applications...

The present study is aimed at determining whether leaf volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are good markers of the grapevine response to defence elicitors in the field. It was carried out in two distinct French vineyards (Burgundy and Bordeaux) over 3 years. The commercial elicitor Bastid® (Syngenta, Saint-Sauveur, France) (COS-OGA) was first used to optimise the VOCs' capture in the field; by bagging stems together with a stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) sensor. Three elicitors (Bastid® , copper sulphate and methyl jasmonate) were assessed at three phenological stages of the grapevines by monitoring stilbene phytoalexins and VOCs...

High soil copper (Cu) concentrations in vineyards can cause phytotoxicity to grapevine rootstocks. In order to mitigate toxicity, the use of grapevine rootstock genetic variation and the application of amendments are possible strategies. The aim of this study is to assess the tolerance of grapevine rootstocks to Cu excess and whether phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca) can reduce phytotoxicity caused by Cu. Grapevine rootstock seedlings were produced from selected stakes: Paulsen 1103 (Vitis berlandieri × Vitis rupestris); SO4 (Vitis berlandieri × Vitis riparia); IAC 572 ((Vitis Riparia × Vitis rupestris) × Vitis caribaea); and Isabel (Vitis labrusca)...

Improper application of copper-based fungicides has made copper stress critical in viticulture, necessitating the need to identify substances that can mitigate it. In this study, leaves of 'Shine Muscat' ('SM') grapevine seedlings were treated with CuSO4 solution (10 mM/L), CuSO4  + 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) (50 mg/L), and distilled water to explore the mitigation effect of ALA. Physiological assays demonstrated that ALA effectively reduced malondialdehyde accumulation and increased peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activities in grapevine leaves under copper stress...

Plasmopara viticola ( P. viticola , Berk. & M. A. Curtis; Berl. & De Toni) causing grapevine downy mildew is one of the most damaging pathogens to viticulture worldwide. Since its recognition in the middle of nineteenth century, this disease has spread from America to Europe and then to all grapevine-growing countries, leading to significant economic losses due to the lack of efficient disease control. In 1885 copper was found to suppress many pathogens, and is still the most effective way to control downy mildews...

In 2013, Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) was detected for the first time in Apulia and, subsequently, recognized as the causal agent of the olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS). To contain the disease, the olive germplasm was evaluated for resistance to Xf , identifying cultivars with different susceptibility to the pathogen. Regarding this, the resistant cultivar Leccino has generally a lower bacterial titer compared with the susceptible cultivar Ogliarola salentina. Among biomolecules, lipids could have a pivotal role in the interaction of Xf with its host...