Xylella fastidiosa is a plant pathogenic bacterium belonging to the Xanthomonadaceae family. Its spread occurs through vector insects (Cicadélicos, Cicadellidae family) that through their oral apparatus transmit bacteria from infected plants to healthy ones.
Xylella fastidiosa affects many plants including vines. It establishes itself and multiplies in the xylem of these plants, that is, in the conductive vessels, producing a kind of gel that obstructs the entire conductive apparatus of the plant and prevents a sufficient and regular flow of water and mineral salts.
This bacterium has been causing the so-called Pierce disease in the US for years, where more than 100 million dollars are invested every year for its research, prevention and containment, until now no effective treatment has been found.
In this presentation, Rodrigo Almeida analyses this problem from the American experience. After a brief presentation of the characteristics of this bacterium and its spread in different regions of the world, he analyses various aspects that must be considered in the study of this complex system: vectors, ecosystems that surround the vineyard, temperature, seasonality (importance of infection in spring or autumn), effect of symptoms on the vector, etc.
Lastly, he describes the activities that are being carried out in California both at the political level as well as research one, population involvement and control strategies.
The paper reproduced in this video-seminar was presented at the International Congress on Grapevine and Wine Sciences - ICGWS (Logroño, Spain, November 7-9, 2018) organized by ICVV.
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