Context
Downy mildew, caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola, is one of the most destructive vine diseases. Introduced from North America at the end of the 19th century, downy mildew is now present in all European vineyards, where it is controlled by the use of plant protection products. With its oceanic climate, the Bordeaux vineyards are particularly exposed to this scourge, which calls for constant vigilance on the part of wine professionals. The recent succession of very favourable years for the development of serious downy mildew epidemics raises questions about the limits of current strategies for combating this disease.
The project
A chair to combat the vine's No. 1 enemy: downy mildew.
The Alexis Millardet Chair aims to find new ways of combating downy mildew in vines, based on prevention and better forecasting of epidemic risks. It focuses on scientific fronts that have been little explored to date, in particular understanding the sexual phase of the pathogen's life cycle. These advances should lead to the development of new control methods based on breaking the cycle and reducing the pathogen's primary inoculum.
The chair is held by a multidisciplinary team from the Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV), which includes INRAE, the University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux Sciences Agro and the Institut français de la vigne et du vin.
It is part of the "Fonds ISVV - une ambition internationale au service de la filière".
With the support of the Fondation Bordeaux Université, it has the patronage of four prestigious estates that are convinced of the need to expand and accelerate research into new methods of combating downy mildew: Château Ausone, Château Cheval Blanc, Château Montrose and Petrus.
The Chair has an ambitious five-year action plan and a shared governance structure that brings together the scientific players and sponsors.
Why an Alexis Millardet Chair?
The name of the chair pays tribute to Pierre Marie Alexis Millardet, professor of botany at the Bordeaux Faculty of Science (1876-1899), who made an active contribution to research into the plant pathology of the vine. He was also the discoverer of "bouillie bordelaise", a mixture of copper sulphate and lime that proved highly effective in combating downy mildew in vines.
Missions
Drawing on the work of the SAVE and SEVEN units, this research programme is organised around the following main themes:
- understanding the sexual phase of the downy mildew cycle ;
- developing tools for quantifying inoculum in the soil;
- developing preventive techniques to limit epidemics (reduction of sexual inoculum);
- improving risk forecasting by integrating this new knowledge.
Discover Vitisphère's presentation of the Chair
The chair's scientific coordinator
François DELMOTTE, INRAE Research Director and Director of the Vineyard Health and Agroecology Laboratory (UMR 1065 SAVE, INRAE - Bordeaux Sciences Agro), is coordinating the research conducted as part of the Chair.
The aim of his research is to integrate the concepts of genetics and evolutionary biology into the epidemiology of plant diseases. It focuses on the adaptation of pathogen populations and the monitoring of inoculum in agrosystems. François Delmotte is also coordinator of the VITAE project "Cultivating vines without pesticides", winner of the ANR's "Cultiver et protéger autrement" priority research programme (€3m over 6 years). He is the author of more than 60 peer-reviewed articles, which have been cited more than 3,000 times.
