Metabolomic discrimination of grapevine water status for Chardonnay and Pinot noir

Water status impact in viticulture has been widely explored, as it strongly affects grapevine physiology and grape chemical composition. It is considered as a key component of vitivinicultural terroir. Most of the studies concerning grapevine water status have focused on either physiological traits, or berry compounds, or traits involved in wine quality. Here, the response of grapevine to water availability during the ripening period is assessed through non-targeted metabolomics analysis of grape berries by ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry. The grapevine water status has been assessed during 2 consecutive years (2019 & 2020), through carbon isotope discrimination on juices from berries collected at maturity (21.5 brix approx.) for 2 Vitis vinifera cv. Pinot noir (PN) and Chardonnay (CH). A total of 220 grape juices were collected from 5 countries worldwide (Italy; Argentina; France; Germany; Portugal). Measured δ¹³C (‰) varied from -28.73 to -22.6 for PN, and from -28.79 to -21.67 for CH. These results also clearly revealed higher water stress for the 2020 vintage. The same grape juices have been analysed by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) and Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (LC-qTOF-MS), leading to the detection of up to 4500 CHONS containing elemental compositions, and thus likely tens of thousands of individual compounds, which include fatty acids, organic acids, peptides, phenolics, also with high levels of glycosylation. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that up to 160 elemental compositions, covering the whole range of detected masses (100 –1000 m/z), were significantly correlated to the observed gradients of water status. Examples of chemical markers, which are representative of these complex fingerprints, include various derivatives of the known abscisic acid (ABA), such as phaesic acid or abscisic acid glucose ester, which are significantly correlated with higher water stress, regardless of the variety. Cultivar-specific behaviours could also be identified from these fingerprints. Our results provide an unprecedented representation of the metabolic diversity, which is involved in the water status regulation at the grape level, and which could contribute to a better knowledge of the grapevine mitigation strategy in a climate change context.

Authors: Sébastien Nicolas¹, Benjamin Bois², Kévin Billet¹, Mourad Harir³, Marianna Lucio³, Olivier Mathieu², Anne-Lise Santoni², Roy Urvieta⁴, Fernando Buscema⁴, Héloise Mahé⁵, Christine Monamy⁵, Sébastien Debuisson⁶, Julie Perry⁶, Fernando Alves⁷, Agnes Destrac⁸, Olivier Yobregat⁹, Laurent Audeguin¹⁰, Manfred Stoll¹¹, Jean-Yves Cahurel¹², Florian Haas¹³, Marianne Henner¹⁴, Philippe Schmitt-kopplin³ and Régis D. Gougeon¹

¹Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, AgroSup Dijon, PAM UMR A 02.102, Institut Universitaire de la Vigne et du Vin – Jules Guyot, Dijon, France
²Biogéosciences UMR 6282 CNRS/Univ Bourgogne Franche Comté – Institut Universitaire de la Vigne et du Vin, 21000 Dijon, France
³Research Unit Analytical BioGeoChemistry, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
⁴Catena Institute of Wine, Bodega Catena Zapata, Mendoza, Argentina
⁵Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne, Centre Interprofessionnel Technique, Beaune, France
⁶CIVC, Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne, Epernay, France
⁷Symington, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
⁸EGFV, Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, INRAE, ISVV, Villenave d’Ornon, France
⁹Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin Pôle Sud-Ouest, V’innopôle, Lisle Sur Tarn, France
¹⁰Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin, Domaine de l’Espiguette, Le Grau du Roi, France
¹¹Institut für Weinbau und Rebenzüchtung, Fachgebiet Weinbau, Forschungsanstalt Geisenheim, Geisenheim, Germany
¹²Institut Français de la Vigne et du Vin, Pôle Bourgogne – Beaujolais – Jura – Savoie, Villefranche/Saône cedex, France
¹³Laimburg Research Centre, Ora, Italy
¹⁴Chambre d’agriculture Alsace, Sainte-croix-en-plaine, France