Detection of dsRNA in Grapevines Showing Symptoms of Rupestris Stem Pitting Disease and the Variabilities Encountered. Ossmat I. Azzam, Graduate Research Assistant, and Dennis Gonsalves, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Cornell University, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva 14456; and Deborah A. Golino, Research Plant Pathologist, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis 95616. Plant Dis. 75:960-964. Accepted for publication 11 February 1991. Copyright 1991 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-75-0960.
 

Rupestris stem pitting (rSP), a graft-transmissible grapevine disease, can be identified only by its reaction (pitted wood) on inoculated Vitis rupestris ‘St. George.’ DsRNA was extracted from grapevines from California and Canada that indexed positive for rSP on St. George. Two distinct dsRNA species (B and C) (M_r = 5.3 × 10⁶ and 4.4 × 10⁶, respectively) were detected from the stem tissue of rSP-positive samples. Although similar dsRNA species (B and C) were detected in extracts of grapevines from New York, the association of dsRNA B and C with rSP in New York samples was not consistent. Also, eight different dsRNAs, known to be associated with the powdery mildew fungus, Uncinula necator, were detected in leaves of New York samples. In New York, the dsRNAs were not observed in leaves or stem samples collected from June through late August during the 1988 and 1989 growing seasons, suggesting that dsRNA detection in the grape tissue is variable throughout the season. We suggest that dsRNA species B and C are associated with rSP disease. The inconsistent results with New York samples are discussed.