Survey on grapevine yellows and their vectors in the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

In the Republic of Moldova, the area of grapevine plantations is 140,000 hectares. Between 2004 and 2014, 40,000 hectares were planted with imported seedlings from European nurseries. However, in the same period, a very harmful grapevine disease appeared. Currently, the disease is common in all the vineyards. Symptomatic plants are found in autochthonous grapevine varieties such as Rara neagra, Feteasca neagra, Moldova, as well as in vineyards older than 35 years. This suggests that Moldova has very effective and mobile phytoplasma insect vectors. The aim of this work was to identify the agents associated with the disease by molecular analyses. Moreover, monitoring of vineyards was conducted to provide more detailed information on the spread of the disease. Finally, a preliminary survey of possible insect vectors was carried out.