Pierce's disease

noun

Plant Pathology.

1. a disease of grapes caused by a rickettsialike organism, characterized by dwarfing of vines, mottling of woody tissues, and plant death.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Pierce's disease¹

Named after N. B. Pierce (died 1917), American plant pathologist

Example Sentences

If you have access to a lab that does testing for Pierce’s disease for the wineries, you should be able to get confirmation that the tree is indeed infected with the aforementioned bacteria before cutting it down.

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Glassy-winged sharpshooters can also spread Pierce’s disease, though Pierce’s is caused by a different strain of X. fastidiosa.

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More importantly, the plants proved resistant to Pierce's disease.

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He then marked the regions with the right combination of geographic and climatic conditions to allow for Pierce's disease to spread, noticing a pattern emerge.

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After 40 years of crossbreeding European grape varieties with wild grapes, a plant geneticist recently patented five hybrid grapes that appear to be resistant to Pierce's disease.

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