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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #375171
Research Project: Identification of Novel Management Strategies for Key Pests and Pathogens of Grapevine with Emphasis on the Xylella Fastidiosa Pathosystem

Location: Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research

Title: Characterization of grapevine fungal canker pathogens using fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles

Author
item Wallis, Christopher
item LAWRENCE, DANIEL - University Of California, Davis
item TRAVADON, RENAUD - University Of California, Davis
item Baumgartner, Kendra

Submitted to: Mycologia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/13/2021
Publication Date: 12/10/2021
Citation: Wallis, C.M., Lawrence, D., Travadon, R., Baumgartner, K. 2021. Characterization of grapevine fungal canker pathogens using fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles. Mycologia. 114(1):203-213. https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2021.1983396.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2021.1983396

Interpretive Summary: The ability to accurately identify causal agents of grapevine trunk diseases is key for making appropriate management decisions. Therefore, research was undertaking to assess the ability of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analyses to characterize and identify fungal canker pathogens. FAME analysis proved capable and accurate at identifying 18 different fungal species from culture. These results now allow research to use FAME to identify species from diseased grapevine wood to proceed.

Technical Abstract: Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analyses can be useful to distinguish microbial species. This study conducted FAME analyses on 18 grapevine pathogens that cause trunk disease. FAME profiles were dominated by oleic acid, albeit profiles were characteristic enough to separate species. Discriminant analyses suggested that palmitoleic acid/sapienic acid, pentadecylic acid, and palmitic acid could explain 79.4% of the variance in the profiles among species in the first three discriminant functions. Finally, libraries were created for use in commercialized software, which was able to accurate identify cultures to species with a low rate (13.9%) of samples to be reassessed. These results demonstrate the potential of FAME analyses using liquid broth culturing to identify closely related fungi to species.