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Grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) are currently limiting grapevine productivity in many vineyards worldwide. As no chemical treatments are registered to control GTDs, biocontrol agents are being tested against these diseases. Esquive® WP, based on the fungus Trichoderma atroviride I-1237 strain, is the first biocontrol product registered in France to control GTDs. In this study, we determine whether, following grapevine pruning wound treatments with Esquive® WP, changes occurred or not in the indigenous microbial communities that are colonizing grapevine wood. Over a 6-year period, Esquive® WP was applied annually to pruning wounds on three grapevine cultivars located in three different regions. Wood samples were collected at 2 and 10 months after the Esquive® WP treatments. Based on MiSeq high-throughput sequencing analyses, the results showed that specific microbial communities were linked to each 'region/cultivar' pairing. In certain cases, a significant modification of alpha diversity indexes and the relative abundance of some microbial taxa were observed between treated and non-treated grapevines 2 months after Esquive® WP treatment. However, these modifications disappeared over time, i.e., 10 months post-treatment. This result clearly showed that Esquive® WP pruning wood treatment did not induce significant changes in the grapevine wood's microbiome, even after 6 years of recurrent applications on the plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an increasing number of studies being carried out on the biocontrol of grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs), no commercial bacterial products have yet been developed to control GTDs. Knowledge of the precise modes of action (MOA) and the different application methods (AM) for biocontrol agents is crucial if they are to be successful in the field. In light of this, the present study aimed at selecting the most appropriate AM for eight bacterial strains with high potential for controlling Neofusicoccum parvum. These strains were applied on one-year-old grapevine in pots (grown from cuttings) using three methods: co-inoculation at stem level, preventive inoculation at stem level and preventive inoculation at the soil surface. The inhibitory activity of the bacterial strain against N. parvum was significantly dependent on the AM. Application of bacterial strains to stems, especially in a preventive way, was much more efficient than inoculation in the soil. When performing preventive inoculation on stems, the inhibition of N. parvumwood necrosis reached 50 and 65 % for Pantoea agglomerans (S1) and Paenibacillus sp. (S19) respectively. To decipher the underlying processes linked to fungal inhibition, the way in which several MOA affected the antagonistic capacity of these two strains was studied via in vitro and in planta assays. While P. agglomerans (S1) inhibited N. parvum by the secretion of antifungal volatile compounds, Paenibacillus sp. (S19) mainly inhibited this pathogen by antibiosis. In addition, both bacterial strains induced systemic defenses in grapevine. However, this affect tended to be higher at 15-dpi after inoculation with P. agglomerans (S1) than after innoculation with Paenibacillus sp. (S19) (three defense genes repressed versus five respectively). Finally, P. agglomerans (S1) and Paenibacillus sp. (S19) were shown to be potential biocontrol candidates for fighting N. parvum in grapevine, due to the combination of direct control via their antifungal activity and indirect control via their ability to activate the grapevine defense system.

Dynamic subsidence and uplift of plates are often explained by the vertical motion of density anomalies in the mantle. Such models predict surface vertical motion rates of less than 100 m Myr−1 at long‐wavelengths with a timespan of tens of Myr. However, during periods of relative sea‐level stability, some of the phases of vertical motion on stable portions of plates have occurred at rates greater than 100 m Myr−1 during episodes that may last only a few Myr. Here, we show that vertical surface motions, with rates greater than 100 m Myr−1 and durations less than a few Myr, can be explained by changes in basal shear stress caused by variation in horizontal motion of a viscous plate relative to the asthenosphere. We apply our physical model to the short‐lived mid‐Eocene immersion of the southern margin of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]