Plant health

In 2010, a serious outbreak of crown gall disease was observed on 3-year-old grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cv. Cabernet Sauvignon in two commercial vineyards located in the South Banat District in Serbia. In Plant Pathology laboratory at University of Belgrade Agrobacterium vitis was identified as causal agent of crown galls by several molecular, biochemical and bioassay methods.

Kuzmanović et al. (2012) First Report of Agrobacterium vitis as the Causal Agent of Grapevine Crown Gall in Serbia, Plant Disease, Volume 96, Issue 2, Page 286, February 2012. http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-11-0600

Comment: Despite the authors claim the first report of A. vitis in Serbia, they wrote that crown gall disease had been sporadically observed in vineyards in Serbia in previous years. Indeed, the disease is well established in this part of Europe. Usually the reason for an outbreak in a young plantation is an introduction of latently infected planting material. Though, source of infection is probably in mother plants.