Increasingly pronounced climate changes, including prolonged drought periods, pose a significant challenge to the cultivation of table grape varieties.

One of the main plant defence mechanisms is the Systemic Acquired Resistance (SAR) mediated by Salicylic Acid (SA). This is a heightened and broad-spectrum immune response initiated by the exposure to pathogens, inducing resistance not only in the infected site, but also throughout the entire plant. It was demonstrated that plant immune system can be regulated by two classes of SA receptors: NONEXPRESSOR OF PR GENES 1 (NPR1) and NPR1-LIKE PROTEIN 3 and 4 (NPR3/NPR4). While NPR1 is required for SA-induction followed by the expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) protein and resistance against pathogens, NPR3/NPR4 serve as transcriptional co-repressors of SA-responsive genes.

Wine tasting has been shown to provide emotions to tasters (Coste et al. 2018). How will expertise impact this emotional response? Burnham and Skilleås (2012) reported that the cultural, experiential, and aesthetic competencies characterize an expert in wine compared to a novice. Although there is no consensual definition of an aesthetic experience, Burnham and Skilleås (2012) reported that aesthetic appreciation is “disinterested, normative for others and communicable” in comparison to sensory pleasure.

Primary and secondary metabolites are major components of grape quality and wine typicity. Their accumulation is interconnected through a complex metabolic network, which is still not well understood. This study aims to investigate how the enzymes of central carbon metabolism interact with anthocyanin biosynthesis during grape berry development: does the accumulation of anthocyanins, which represents a non-negligible diversion of carbon metabolic fluxes, require reprogramming of central enzymes or is it controlled downstream of central metabolism? To this end, 23 enzymes involved in central carbon metabolism pathways have been analyzed in the berries of 3 grape cultivars, which have close genetic background but distinct temporal dynamics of anthocyanin accumulation.

Excell laboratory has initiated the development of an analytical method based on electrochemistry to evaluate the ability of wines to undergo or resist to oxidative phenomena. Electrochemistry is a powerful tool to probe reactions involving electron transfers and offers possibility of real-time measurements. In that context, the laboratory has implemented electrochemical analysis to assess oxidation state of different wine matrices but also in order to evaluate oxidative or reduced character of leaf and soil. Initially, our laboratory focused on dosage of compounds involved in responses of plant stresses and we were also interested in microbiological activity of soils. These analyses were compared with the measurement of redox potential (Eh) and pH which are two fundamental variables involved in the modulation of plant metabolism. Indeed, the variation of redox states of the plant reflects its biological activity but also its capacity to absorb nutriments. The Eh-pH conditions mainly determine metabolic processes involved in soil and leaf and our goal is to determine if this combined analytical approach will be sufficiently precise to detect biological evolutions (plant health, parasitic attack…).