mother vine, an identified, preferred individual vine from which cuttings or other vegetative propagation materials are taken. They are the consequence of clonal selection and vine improvement programmes. Such vines are certified only if they have been tested for virus diseases. However, the widespread use of nursery clones over the last few decades, especially for rootstocks, has inadvertently created another problem since mother vines infected with trunk diseases, which are fungal rather than viral, have led to the spread of these diseases.
