Anika Kinkhabwala,* Michael Rupert, and Amy Ritchardson
*A&P Inphatec, LLC, 1060 East Meadow Circle, Palo Alto, CA 94303 (accounting@inphatec.com)

Few methods for controlling and treating Pierce’s Disease (PD) have been avail- able, with efforts historically focused on controlling the sharpshooter vector (e.g., insecticides) or roguing seriously ill vines, both of which have demonstrated only limited success. However, an option that reduces PD in grapevines is now available, XylPhi-PD. XylPhi-PD is a novel biological treatment for PD that is approved for use in organic production. This breakthrough technology was developed exclusively for viticulture. XylPhi-PD contains a cocktail of viral bacteriophages (bacteria-killing viruses) that enter and destroy Xylella fastidiosa bacteria. Multiple university field studies assessed the efficacy of XylPhi-PD to treat or prevent PD in vineyards when used in accordance with label Directions for Use. In a 2015 Texas A&M study with natural infection exposure, three monthly XylPhi-PD treatments significantly re- duced PD incidence to 44% versus controls. For the 2020 multisite field trials (North Coast California commercial vineyards with high PD pressure), vines were randomly assigned to “2020 Treated,” “2019 and 2020 Treated,” and two separate, untreated control groups to test the efficacy of XylPhi-PD. XylPhi-PD treatment of diverse wine varietals prompted reductions in visual PD symptoms of 60% versus controls, which was confirmed by qPCR. XylPhi-PD can prevent disease in healthy vines and treat vines early in their infection.

Funding Support: A&P Inphatec