Assessment of climate change impacts on water needs and growing cycle on grapevine in three DOs of NE Spain

In table grapes seedlessness is a crucial breeding target, mainly results from stenospermocarpy, linked to the Thompson Seedless variety. Several studies investigated the genetic control of seedlessness identifying AGL11, a MADS-box transcription factor, as a crucial gene.
We performed a deep investigation of the whole AGL11 gene sequence in a collection of grapevine varieties revealing three different promoter-CDS combinations. By investigating the expression of the three AGL11 alleles and evaluating their ability to activate the promoter region, we show that AGL11 regulates its transcription in a specific promoter-CDS manner. By a multi-AGL11 co-expression analysis we identified a methyl jasmonate esterase, an indole-3-acetate beta-glucosyltransferase, and an isoflavone reductase as top AGL11 candidate targets. In vivo experiments further confirmed AGL11 role in regulating these genes, demonstrating its significant influence in seed development and thus in seedlessness trait.

We analyze the effects of climate (temperature and pluviometry) on the phenologic stages of the vine (débourrement, flowering, ripening and grape harvest). We rebuilt time series starting from the beginning of the XIXth century for the Medoc and the area of Bordeaux, data very seldom mobilized by researchers.

Compactness is a complex trait of V. vinifera L. and is defined ultimately by the portion of free space within the bunch which is not occupied by the berries. A high degree of compactness results in poor ventilation and consequently a higher susceptibility to fungal diseases, diminishing the quality of the fruit. The easiness to conceptualize the trait and its importance arguably contrasts with the difficulty to measure and quantify it. However, recent technical advancements have allowed to study this attribute more accurately over the last decade. Our main objective was to explore the underlying genetics determining bunch compactness by applying updated phenotyping methods in a collection of V. vinifera L. cultivars with a wide genetic diversity.

According to the vintage, it may be difficult for vine growers to make a decision regarding the type of wine in relation with the soils.

Polyphenols are important compounds involved in many chemical and sensory wine features. In winemaking, adding oenological tannins claims to have positive impacts on wine stability, protection from oxidation and aroma persistence. Polyphenols are antioxidant compounds by either scavenging reactive oxygen and nitrogen species or chelating Fe2+ ions (1). However, as tannins oxidation leads to the formation of highly reactive species (i.e. ortho-quinones), it is still unclear if they have an effective role toward oxidation of wine aromas (2). In this work, we aim at studying the effect of two commercial tannins (proanthocyanidins, ellagitannins) on red wine flavour (mainly aroma) before and after air exposition.