Comparison of bitter rot bunch rot fungi in the USA and Australia and associated study tour

Abstract

This travel grant funded a period of research on bunch rots at North Carolina State University and an associated study of viticulture practices in North Carolina.

Summary

The objectives of this travel grant were as follows.

• Conduct experiments to compare the properties of bitter rot fungal isolates from Australia and the United States of America
• Develop a peer-reviewed publication in a high ranking international journal dealing with the discipline of plant diseases, jointly authored by grapevine researchers from Australia and the USA

The project was conducted in collaboration with Prof Turner Sutton at the Department of Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University (NCSU) and arose from the Wine Australia Winegrowing Futures Program NWG 06/01-2) on bunch rot of grapes. In September 2009 the chief investigator initiated a collaborative project with Prof Turner Sutton from North Carolina State University. This collaboration arose as a consequence of Turner Sutton’s visit to Australia in September 2009 as part of a Wine Australia travel grant (GWT 09/01).