Date of Graduation

Summer 2016

Degree

Master of Science in Plant Science (Agriculture)

Department

College of Agriculture

Committee Chair

Wenping Qiu

Abstract

A recent threat to the sustainability of grape production is Grapevine vein-clearing virus (GVCV), the first DNA virus discovered in grapevines. Infection with GVCV leads to vine decline, lower quality berries, and eventual death of the grapevine. Since GVCV was discovered in cultivated grapevines, research has been dedicated to investigating its range and origin. The entire genome of the first GVCV isolate from a grape cultivar ‘Chardonel' has been deposited in GenBank and is used as a reference genome. More recently, two GVCV isolates were found in native Vitis rupestris in Missouri. In this thesis project, I applied polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to screen for GVCV in native Ampelopsis cordata, which is also in the Vitaceae family. I found GVCV in two accessions of this wild plant species. The entire genomes of the two GVCV isolates, GVCV-AMP1 and GVCV-AMP2, from A. cordata were sequenced. The GVCV-AMP1 genome is composed of double-stranded DNA, 7,749 bp long, while GVCV-AMP2 is 7,765 bp long. Genomic analysis indicated that they are new isolates with signature 9base pair inserts in open reading frame II. A survey of GVCV in seventeen A. cordata plants around the Springfield area found that five were infected with GVCV, suggesting high incidence of GVCV among these native plants. These results demonstrated that GVCV spreads among species across genera in native habitats, and yielded crucial clues on origin and epidemics of GVCV. These findings will aid in developing new strategies for the management of GVCV-associated disease.

Keywords

grape, virus, wild plants, GVCV, Ampelopsis, viral genome, Vitis

Subject Categories

Plant Sciences

Copyright

© Sylvia Marie Petersen

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Open Access

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