Attendance at the 8th International workshop on Grapevine Downy and Powdery Mildew (Corvallis, Oregon, USA, July 2017)
Abstract
Dr Suzanne McKay attended the 8th International Workshop on Grapevine Downy and Powdery Mildew in Corvallis, USA, 17-19 July 2017 and presented a paper on “Incidence and severity of QoI and DMI fungicide resistance of Erysiphe necator in Australia”. She was coauthor on a second paper about fungicide resistance in Australia. Information presented at the workshop covered epidemiology, disease management, population genetics, breeding, disease assessment tools, modelling and decision support systems. The program is available at http://gdpm2017.org/congress/program/. Visits to vineyards in the Willamette valley and Southern Oregon and, attendance at grower workshops showcased several of the research projects currently being undertaking by the Oregon viticultural industry. Visits to and working in the laboratory of Dr Walt Mahaffee, ARS-USDA at Oregon State University, Corvallis, helped establish a formal collaboration. New information and methods have been shared with colleagues and industry and have been incorporated in to the Wine Australia funded project SAR 1602. New professional networks were established and existing networks between Australian and international researchers strengthened. An article is in preparation for publication in an industry journal.
Summary
Dr Suzanne McKay, Senior Research Officer, Plant Health and Biosecurity, SARDI, attended the 8th International Workshop on Grapevine Downy and Powdery Mildew (IWGDPM) in Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America, 15-20th July 2017. Following the workshop, Dr McKay visited vineyards and attended grower workshops in Southern Oregon then visited the ARS-USDA laboratories of Dr Walt Mahaffee at Oregon State University (OSU), Corvallis.
Grapevine downy mildew and powdery mildew cause considerable losses to the Australian grape and wine industry, in terms of reduced yield and quality, as well as cost of management. The IWGDPM, held every 3-4 years, is an important opportunity for Australian researchers to exchange information on these diseases and keep abreast of the latest international research findings. Topics covered at the IWGDPM covered epidemiology, fungicide resistance, host resistance and grape breeding, plant-microbe interactions and population genetics, disease management and decision support systems. Dr McKay presented a paper ‘Incidence and severity of QoI and DMI fungicide resistance of Erysiphe necator in Australia’. A major focus area of the workshop was disease forecasting models/decision support systems (DSS), research predominantly coming out of Europe. Although the models and DSS are not currently suited to most Australian production systems, the improvements in model outputs and grower usability over the last 10 years has been immense. It is recommended that the Australian wine industry closely follow the developments in this research area as with continued improvement they may provide benefit to the Australian wine industry in the future. Workshop participants also visited vineyards and wineries in the Willamette Valley, North of Corvallis. The workshop program can be found at http://gdpm2017.org/congress/program/.
Following the workshop, Dr McKay visited the laboratories of Dr Walt Mahaffee, OSU, Corvallis, to learn, share knowledge and skills about research in to fungicide resistance in grapevine powdery mildew. A collaboration has been established between our laboratories. In addition to laboratory visits, Dr McKay toured vineyards and attended grower workshops in the Southern Oregon viticultural region with Dr Mahaffee and his team. Dr McKay learnt about his research into pathogen detection and disease spread using in-field monitoring technologies.
An article for an industry publication is in preparation and will be submitted by Dec 31st 2017. Information from the workshop has been shared with colleagues and industry partners in the Wine Australia funded project SAR 1602 ‘Understanding fungicide resistance in Australian viticulture’.
This visit was supported by funding from Wine Australia, Agnova and Dr McKay. Participation in the workshop strengthened links with international researchers and provided new opportunities for collaboration, particularly with American and European researchers. It is critical that Australian researchers continue to maintain and strengthen networks with international researchers, particularly as funding for research continues to decrease worldwide.