Importance of secondary inoculum of <i>Plasmopara viticola</i> to epidemics of grapevine downy mildew

To quantify the magnitude and the spatial spread of grapevine downy mildew secondary sporangia, 4685 Plasmopara viticola single lesion samples were collected from 18 plots spread across central Europe. Disease symptoms were collected on two to 22 sampling dates per plot between 2000 and 2002. Four multiallelic microsatellite markers were used for genotypic identification of pathogen samples. Genetic analysis showed more than 2300 site‐specific P. viticola genotypes, indicating that populations are genetically rich demographic units. Approximately 70% of the genotypes were sampled once and 14% were sampled twice throughout the various epidemics. In the 18 populations only seven genotypes (0.3%) were identified more than 50 times. Three genotypes particularly successful in causing disease through secondary cycles showed mainly a clustered distribution. The distance of sporangial migration per secondary cycle was less than 20 m and their plot colonization rate was calculated at around 1–2 m 2 day −1 . Downy mildew epidemics of grapevine are therefore the result of the interaction of a multitude of genotypes, each causing limited (or a few) lesions, and of a dominant genotype able to spread stepwise at plot‐scale. These findings contrast with current theories about grapevine downy mildew epidemiology, which postulate that there is massive vineyard colonization by one genotype and long‐distance migration of sporangia.