During a survey of endophytic fungi associated with ornamental plants in the Czech Republic, Paecilomyces-like strains were isolated from the root of Clematis. Analyses based on a combined internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), beta-tubulin (tub2) and calmodulin (CaM) sequence data matrix were applied to infer the phylogenetic position of these isolates. The novel species is characterized by phialides with a cylindrical basal portion tapering to a thin long neck producing pyriform conidia in chains. The new species is introduced with comprehensive descriptions, illustrations and a phylogenetic tree herein. Two primer pairs targeting the partial CaM gene, cm1F/cm1R and cm2F/cm2R, were designed in this study.

The present study evaluated the effect of winemaking technologies on the concentration of different biogenic amines in Chardonnay wines. Wines produced from sedimented, inoculated must with active dry yeast without malolactic fermentation were compared with wine produced from nonsedimented must spontaneously fermented with malolactic fermentation. Histamine and putrescine concentrations were not significantly different in either variant. The highest concentration of histamine was 0.055 mg L−1, and the highest concentration of putrescine was 1.6 mg L−1 in both variants. Statistically significantly higher values of cadaverine (from 0.06 to 0.07 mg L−1), spermidine (from 0.8 to 1.4 mg L−1), spermine (from 0.15 to 0.25 mg L−1), and isoamylamine (from 0.40 to 0.46 mg L−1) were found in the variant made from nonsedimented must, in which spontaneous malolactic fermentation was performed. The higher concentration of biogenic amines in this variant may be due to the different composition of lactic bacteria during the spontaneous malolactic fermentation. A simplified, unpublished HILIC method of chromatographic separation of biogenic amines without prior deprivation with MS-MS detection was used to determine individual biogenic amines.

Grapevine Pinot gris virus (GPGV) is considered to be a causal agent of Grapevine Leaf Mottling and Deformation (GLMD) disease that has been reported worldwide through the grapevine-growing regions. Seven grapevines that were collected from a vineyard in the Czech Republic were tested for the presence of GPGV in leaf and phloem tissues. Each of the seven grapevines was infected by GPGV, from which sic symptoms were mostly shown without a typical mottling. The phylogeny based on RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and movement/coat protein sequences indicated the same origin of the GPGV isolates. The GPGV titer was the highest in the grapevines with the highest GLMD-like symptoms; however, some of the grapevines with milder GLMD-like symptoms had a lower GPGV titer than the asymptomatic grapevine. Soil analysis showed uneven boron content in the direct vicinity of the grapevines, while the boron content in the grapevines was more, even showing no boron deficiency. The quantitative analysis of selected gene expressions associated with boron efflux and transport only partially explained the boron content in the soil and grapevines and only in the grapevines growing in soils with the highest or lowest boron contents. The VvBor2 and VvNIP5 genes had a higher expression and VvNIP6 had a lower expression in the grapevine growing in the soil with the lowest boron content, while a low expression of VvBor1 and VvBor2 was observed in the grapevine that was grown in the soil with the highest boron content.

Grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs) pose a major threat to the wine industry worldwide. Currently, efficient biological methods or chemical compounds are not available for the treatment of infected grapevines. In the present study, we used an extract from the knotwood of spruce trees as a biological control against GTDs. Our in vitro trial was focused on the antifungal effects of the extract against the most common GTD pathogens—Cadophora luteo-olivacea, Dactylonectria torresensis, Diaporthe ampelina, Diaporthe bohemiae, Diplodia seriata, Eutypa latai, and Phaeoacremonium minimum. Our in vitro trial revealed a high antifungal effect of the extract against all tested fungi. The inhibition rates varied among the different species from 30% to 100% using 1 mg·mL−1 extract. Subsequently, the efficiency of the extract was supported by an in planta experiment. Commercial grafts of Vitis vinifera were treated with the extract and planted. The total genomic DNA of grapevines was extracted 10 days and 180 days after the treatment. The fungal microbial diversities of the treated/untreated plants were compared using high-throughput amplicon sequencing (HTAS). Treated plants showed 76.9% lower relative abundance of the genus Diaporthe and 70% lower relative abundance of the genus Phaeoacremonium 10 days after treatment. A similar scenario was observed for the genus Cadophora 180 days after treatment, where treated plants showed 76% lower relative abundance of this genus compared with untreated grapevines.

Phyllosticta ampelicida causes grapevine black rot, a potentially damaging disease for grape production. This paper reports the draft genome sequence of P. ampelicida PA1 Galicia CBS 148563, which is 30.55 Mb and encodes 10,691 predicted protein-coding genes. This is the first sequence genome assembly of P. ampelicida, and this information is a valuable resource to support genomic attributes for determining pathogenic behaviour and comparative genomic analyses of grapevine black rot fungi.