TRANSFORMATION OF GRAPEVINE ROOTSTOCKS WITH THE COAT PROTEIN GENE OF GRAPEVINE FANLEAF NEPOVIRUS

Control of fanleaf disease induced by the Grapevine Fanleaf Nepovirus (GFLV) today is based. on sanitary selection and soil disinfection wit h nematicides. This way of control is not always efficient and nematic ides can be dangerous pollutants. Coat protein (CP) mediated protectio n could be an attractive alternative. We have transferred a chimeric C P gene of GFLV-F13 via Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 into two root stock varieties : Vitis rupestris and 110 Richter (V. rupestris X V. B erlandieri). Transformation was performed on embryogenic callus obtain ed from anthers and on hypocotyl fragments from mature embryos. Succes s of the transformation was assessed by polymerase chain reaction and Southern analyses, Transformants with a number of copies of the CP gen e varying from one to five were obtained. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with virus-specific antibodies revealed various levels of expres sion of the coat protein in the different transformants.