BC researchers identify special fungi that can protect grapevines from devastating diseases

New research from BC has identified two types of fungi that protect against grapevine disease, which is good news for the local wine industry.

Tree trunk disease is a fungus itself that spreads primarily through pruning wounds and causes plants to rot. It can be a costly problem for grape growers if it spreads and kills other plants before it can be brought under control, often involving the use of chemicals.

But this discovery would mean that growers have a natural solution to what Hans Buchler says is a growing problem.

Buchler has been growing grapes for 40 years in Oliver, BC, also known as Canada’s Wine Capital.

“When we look around my neighborhood, we see more and more symptoms of this,” he said. “In some areas, even very large amounts of relatively young blocks are infected on a very large scale.”

Jinxz Pollard-Flamand, a researcher at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says the fungal species Trichoderma Canadense and Trichoderma Viticola hunt for the fungus that causes trunk disease, and have been shown to be 70 to 100 percent effective against the disease.

He and his fellow researchers tested the fungi for 21 days on pruning wounds inoculated with trunk disease.

“We found that we actually reduced the infection,” Pollard-Flamand said.

Using Trichoderma species to fight trunk disease isn’t exactly new, Pollard-Flamand points out. It’s used quite often in biopesticides, he said. But these strains were used to specifically test certain types of vines, and this work could provide the basis for a natural product that grape growers can use to combat a disease that has the potential to destroy their vineyard and their business.

Pollard-Flamand said more research is needed before a product using these mold species is made commercially available to grape growers, but Buchler says he and other grape growers in his area would be very interested in using it if and when it becomes available.

“It’s really, really promising,” Buchler said.

“This is kind of an interesting example of how research can change the world.”