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20 MARCH 1, 2016 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com T he crown gall workshop hosted by Washington State University Tri-Cities in January marked the inaugural event in the Ravenholt Lecture Series, made possible by a posthumous donation from the Albert Victor Ravenholt Foundation. Albert Ravenholt was a founding partner in Sagemoor Vineyards in Pasco, Washington, in the early 1970s, establishing vineyards where no industry existed. Ravenholt died in 2010 at the age of 90, after a long career that included serving as a war correspon- dent for United Press International during World War II and, later, UPI bureau chief in China, and three decades as a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs. Following his death, the remaining Sagemoor partners sold the vineyards to Allan Brothers of Naches. Ravenholt's surviving family members manage his foundation and donated $400,000 to the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center and $100,000 to endow a lecture series for the WSU Viticulture and Enology program. Kent Waliser, general manager of Sagemoor Vineyards, knew Ravenholt for the last eight years of his life. At the event, Waliser said to those gathered, "My privilege was to know him. Your privilege is to benefit from his surviving estate. "It is my hope that, through this gift, our industry can bring to Washington many speakers from all over the world so that we may learn from them and they from us," Waliser said. "We will create ambassadors for Washington wine." • WSU begins historic Ravenholt Lecture Series that it is an important source of the pathogen in the environment," he said. But what researchers still don't know, he added, is whether it can survive in other places in the environment, such as water, soil, weeds or other plants that could serve as reservoirs for it. Finding and controlling A. vitis Researchers have been studying this pathogen for more than 30 years but have never had a good method for detecting the bacterium that causes it. Tests to ensure plants are clean and to identify infected plants can take weeks. However, a new test developed at Cornell University by plant pathologist Kameka Johnson would shrink that time to just three to four days. Magnetic capture hybridization involves probing material for a specific DNA sequence to determine if the bacterium is present. For crown gall, that involves the virD2 gene in the bacte- rium, which is essential for infection. "This technique can only be used if you're looking for a specific target," Burr said. "Because agrobacterium needs virD2 to form galls, it really was just the perfect method for detecting crown gall in grapevines." The assay avoids the detection of bac- teria that are present in vines and do not cause crown gall, Burr said. Researchers also see gains in biologi- cal control of crown gall. Another strain of A. vitis, F 2/5, is a non-tumorigenic strain that originated in South Africa. Research- ers discovered that applying F 2/5 along with a tumorigenic strain to inoculate the plant, crown gall would not materialize. Posthumous donation makes wine science lecture series possible. by Shannon Dininny COURTESY MAEGAN MURRAY, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Dr. Thomas Burr talks about crown gall disease at the inaugural Ravenholt Lecture Series at Washington State University Tri-Cities in January. www.antlespollen.com p: 855-POLLEN8 (765-5368) 209-595-2056 (David) 425-466-5631 (Brian) WENATCHEE • YAKIMA • MODESTO Featuring Vericet Gold! C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Antles_Duotone_021016.pdf 1 2/10/16 4:07 PM