Xylophilus ampelinus (Panagopoulos 1969)

Bacterial necrosis

This bacterial disease, which was identified rather late in 1969, is rampant in several production areas in Europe; today it is mainly located on the Mediterranean rim, as well as in South Africa where very comparable bacterial strains are isolated, differing only by their aggressiveness.

Its economic impact fluctuates depending on the country. The losses suffered can sometimes be significant affecting the production, but also the lifespan of the grapevines which can wither in a few years.

Bacterial necrosis was described in France in 1895 under the name of "Oléron's disease". Its distribution in our country is not perfectly known because it is not always identified with certainty on the ground, or its symptoms are sometimes confused with those induced by frost or hail in particular. Its parasitism has nevertheless been confirmed in several vineyards in Roussillon, Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Charentes and Drôme.