Scientists root out wine blight genome sequence

Researchers identify Vitis riparia vine as phylloxera's original host and say it came to Europe from US

In the mid-19th century almost half of France's vineyards were destroyed in the great French wine blight.

The previously unknown phylloxera insect, an almost microscopic aphid-like creature, went on to decimate vines across Europe before spreading to Australia, South Africa and elsewhere. It is long thought to have come from North America via steamships crossing the Atlantic.