The Pierce’s Disease/Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board approved more than $2.1 million in new funding for 12 research projects addressing PD, grapevine viruses and vectors over the next three years.

The Board is also funding seven continuing, multi-year projects that total $640,053 for fiscal year 2021-22. These include field trials to test PD-resistant plant materials and technologies, field studies on the topical delivery of promising grape-derived peptides for treatment of PD, development of gene editing technology for grapevines using plant protoplasts, and investigating transgenic rootstock-mediated protection of grapevine scion against PD by dual stacked DNA constructs.

Click to read more about the funded projects.

As of March 31, 2021, there were 10,702 nursery stock shipments to non-infested areas of the state. Origin county inspectors have stopped one glassy-winged sharpshooter adult, one nymph, and four egg masses from moving in nursery stock shipments. All nursery shipments were free of GWSS during destination inspections.

As of March 31, 2021, there were 3,188 ATP shipments, consisting of approximately 644,416 plants. No regulatory actions have been taken against any ATP nurseries for viable life stages so far this year.

Click to learn more about how the Pierce’s Disease Control Program reduces the risk of moving GWSS on nursery stock.

in Wine Enthusiast

“As your nighttime temperatures warm up, Pierce’s disease will spread further because it relies on mild conditions,” says Adam Tolmach, cofounder of The Ojai Vineyard. “Pierce’s disease is going to become a bigger and bigger problem as California weather gets milder.”

But the cavalry is coming, in the form of hybridized, PD-resistant grapes developed by Dr. Andrew Walker at the University of California, Davis.”