Wild and domesticated grapevines: endophyte community structure and differences

Microbes found in asymptomatic plants are known as endophytes. Endophytic microbial communities associated with economically relevant crops are studied as they may provide tools for improving plant health, growth and overall quality. To test the hypothesis that in domesticated grapevines part of the microflora native to this plant in the wild was lost, we surveyed wild and domesticated grapevines. We adopted a metagenomic approach to study grapevine endophytic communities. Both Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA) and Roche 454 technology were used to fingerprint and sequence (respectively) microbial DNA after PCR. To understand how synthetic fungicides introduced for pest control in modern agricultural practice may have shaped the grapevine associated microbiota, we also analysed the differences in microbial communities in plants from vineyards under organic or IPM management. Both bacterial and fungal endophytes were considered in this study.