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Effect of Wound Position, Auxin, and Agrobacterium vitis Strain F2/5 on Wound Healing and Crown Gall in Grapevine

First, second, and sixth authors: Department of Plant Pathology, and third author: Department of Horticultural Sciences, Cornell University, NYSAES, Geneva, NY 14456; fourth author: Department of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel; and fifth author: Institut für Botanik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstr. 3, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany

Agrobacterium vitis is the causal agent of crown gall disease in grapevine, which can be severe in many regions worldwide. Vitis vinifera cultivars are highly susceptible to freeze injury, providing the wounds necessary for infection by A. vitis. Wound position in relation to the uppermost bud of cuttings was determined to be important in tumor development. Inoculated wounds below buds developed tumors, whereas wounds opposite the bud did not, implying that indole-3-aectic acid flow contributes to tumor formation. If auxin was applied to wounds prior to inoculation with a tumorigenic A. vitis strain, all sites of inoculation developed tumors, accompanied by an increased amount of callus in the cambium. Wounds inoculated with an A. vitis biological control strain F2/5 prior to application of the pathogen did not develop galls. A closer examination of these wounds determined that callus cells formed in the cambium during wound healing are susceptible to transformation by the pathogen. Although the mechanism by which F2/5 prevents transformation is unknown, our observations suggest that F2/5 inhibits normal wound healing by inducing necrosis in the cambium.