Fungal endophytes of wild and hybrid Vitis leaves and their potential for vineyard biocontrol

Plants are colonized by diverse assemblages of fungal endophytes that have potential as biocontrol agents for a variety of crops, including grapevine. Although the diversity of symbionts can be very high in wild plants, the fungal endophytes of wild Vitis plants have not yet been investigated. We surveyed the fungal endophytes of six wild populations of Vitis riparia, as well as a cold tolerant, hybrid grapevine in five vineyards (one certified organic), using 454 pyrosequencing. We detected between 43 and 235 OTUs per sample, with the highest richness and diversity in the wild, the lowest in conventional vineyards, and intermediate levels in the organic vineyard. Wild plants supported a range of taxa not seen in the conventional vineyards, and vineyards were dominated by relatively few taxa. We also isolated fungi from the wild plants and tested them for their ability to inhibit pathogens of grapevine. Several wild isolates (e.g. Ramularia spp.) were strongly inhibitory to grapevine pathogens. We show that wild Vitis supports a distinct and highly diverse community of fungal endophytes, and may represent a rich repository of potential vineyard biocontrol agents.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author