September 2023

  • Accelerating Research on Grapevine Viruses
  • Update on Nursery Programs
  • Free Workshop: Novel, Non-Chemical Technologies for Pest and Vector Management
Grapevine leaf showing symptoms of grapevine red blotch disease
Accelerating Research on Grapevine Viruses

To drive progress in finding sustainable, effective control strategies for grapevine viruses, the PD/GWSS Board is partnering with the National Academies of Sciences to review and provide recommendations on the Board’s virus research portfolio. The guidance will help direct future funding of projects that address knowledge and management gaps, minimizing the spread of and economic losses due to grapevine red blotch virus and grapevine leafroll-associated virus type 3.

The first phase of the review was of the Board’s annual research funding process, with the committee validating the high quality of the review and selection process. The committee also offered suggestions on how the Board could refine its procedures and promote collaborative, multi-disciplinary approaches to future virus projects. They then discussed expectations for the project's next phase with the Board.

The committee is now reviewing current knowledge on grapevine viruses to identify research outcomes and gaps and recommend the best approach for future research. A final report is expected in summer 2024. Click to learn more about the project.

The PD/GWSS Board research coordinator, Dr. Kristin Lowe, provides regular project updates at the quarterly Board meetings, the next of which is scheduled for Nov. 14.
Inspector looking for glassy-winged sharpshooters on nursery plants.
Update on Nursery Programs

Over half of the state’s nurseries are in counties infested with the glassy-winged sharpshooter, and many ship to non-infested areas. Inspections, trapping, and treatments at nurseries, led by the Pierce’s Disease Control Program, are key to keeping GWSS from infesting new areas.

  • Nursery Regulatory Program: From Jan. 1 through July 31, 2023, there were 20,250 nursery stock shipments to non-infested areas of the state. Origin county inspectors found 13 GWSS egg masses, five nymphs, and five adults in outgoing nursery stock shipments. Destination county inspectors found one viable GWSS life stage during incoming nursery stock inspections, resulting in a Notice of Rejection. 

  • Nursery Stock Approved Treatment Program (ATP): From Jan. 1 through July 31, 2023, there were 5,108 ATP shipments, consisting of 975,613 plants. No regulatory actions have been taken against any ATP nurseries for viable life stages so far this year.
Examples of the mosaic eye and orange eye phenotypes in genomeedited glassy-winged sharpshooter.
Free Workshop: Novel, Non-Chemical Technologies for Pest and Vector Management

Learn about alternative pest management technologies and the science behind them at a free workshop on Oct. 5. PD/GWSS Board-funded researcher Peter Atkinson will be speaking about gene-editing of the glassy-winged sharpshooter to prevent Pierce’s disease at 3:15 p.m.

Novel, Non-Chemical Technologies for Pest and Vector Management: Engineered and Sterile Insects, and Related Technologies 
Thursday, Oct. 5 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
CalEPA Building, Coastal Hearing Room
1001 I Street, Sacramento

The workshop will be held in-person and online and is sponsored by California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation, Department of Food and Agriculture, and Department of Public Health. 
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