Dark Threat: Bois noir, a European grapevine disease, has been found in North America

摘要

THE Canadian Food Inspection Agency has discovered a mysterious grapevine yellow disease caused by phytoplasma in a vineyard in British Columbia. The contaminated vines have been traced back to an order received from a nursery in France, where Bois noir is much more common. Pathologists don't yet know how big a threat the disease represents in North America, says Ken Eastwell a Washington State University plant pathologist. "What's different about this is it's a different phytoplasma than we've seenin North America, so we don't know how it will behave," says Eastwell. "That's always a question when you get a new pathogen in a new environment."