PubMed · 2026-06-12
Researchers mapped the fungal communities living in grapevine bark, wood, and soil—comparing healthy vines to those sick with Esca, a destructive trunk disease. They found that where a fungus lives (bark vs. wood vs. soil) and what year it is matter more than the season or grape variety in shaping which fungi are present.
Plant health status significantly affected only GTD (grapevine trunk disease) pathogens, which were more abundant and diverse in symptomatic vines compared to healthy ones.
Year (vintage) was the single strongest driver of fungal community shifts across all microhabitats—outweighing season, cultivar, and disease status.
Soil harbored the highest overall fungal diversity, while bark and wood were the primary zones for plant pathogens and wood-decay fungi associated with trunk disease.
