Mechanisms involved in the heating of the environment by the aerodynamic action of a wind machine to protect a vineyard against spring frost

Aims: This work aimed i) to calibrate the accuracy of estimating vineyard water status by crop water stress index (CWSI) compared to stem water potential; ii) to determine the time interval during the day that best correlates to stem water potential and iii) to understand the its usefulness.

The evaluation of the current and future impact of climate change on viticulture requires an integrated view on a complex interacting system within the soil-plant-atmospheric continuum under continuous change. Aside of the globally observed increase in temperature in almost all viticulture regions for at least four decades, we observe several clear trends at the regional level in the ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration. Additionally the recently published 6th assessment report of the ipcc (the physical science basis) shows case-dependent further expected shifts in climate patterns which will have substantial impacts on the way we will conduct viticulture in the decades to come.

Epidermal Patterning Factors are a class of cysteine rich peptides known to be involved in many developmental processes. The role of EPF1, EPF2 and EPFL9 in controlling leaf stomata formation has been well described in model plants and cereals, and recently also in grapevine, while little is known about their activity in other organs. The aim of our study is to investigate whether VviEPFL9-2 can have a specific biological function in grapevine roots, where it resulted to be expressed. As grapevine is cultivated in the form of a grafted plant, we focused our study on the commonly used rootstock Kober 5BB (Vitis berlandieri x Vitis riparia). VviEPFL9-2 was edited in Kober 5BB plants using Agrobacterium tumefaciens transformation of embryogenic calli and the CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The phenotypic evaluation in greenhouse indicated that, as expected, the leaves of knock-out (KO) plants have a significant lower stomatal density compared to WT, associated with a lower stomatal conductance.

AIM Terpene compounds are associated with floral notes and are characteristic of aromatic grape varieties such as Muscat (Jackson, 2008). They are generally considered to potentially contribute to the aroma of white wines. However, there is a growing interest towards the potential contribution of terpene compounds to the aroma of red wines. The aim of this work was to investigate the occurrence of different terpenes in red wines from Italian varieties. METHODS For this study wines from 11 mono-varietal Italian red wines from 12 regions were used (19 Sangiovese, 11 Nebbiolo, 10 Aglianico, 11 Primitivo, 10 Raboso del Piave, 9 Cannonau, 11 Teroldego, 3 Nerello, 9 Montepulciano, 7 Corvina). All samples were from vintage 2016 and none of them had been in contact with wood. A total of 19 terpenes and 7 norisoprenoids were analysed by mean of SPME-GC-MS analysis using a DVB-CAR-PDMS fiber. The wines were collected in the framework of the activities of the D-Wines (Diversity of Italian wines) project.

Global warming and increased frequency and/or severity of drought events are among the most threatening consequences of climate change for agricultural crops. In response to drought, grapevine (as many other plants) exhibits osmotic adjustment through active accumulation of osmolytes which in turn shift the leaf turgor loss point (TLP) to more negative values, allowing to maintain stomata opened at lower water potentials1. We investigated the capacity of Pinot noir leaves to modulate their osmotic potential as a function of: (i) time (seasonal osmoregulation), (ii) growing temperatures, and (iii) drought events, to enhance comprehension of the resilience of grapevines in drought conditions. We performed trails under semi-controlled field conditions, and in two different greenhouse chambers (20/15 °C vs 25/20 °C day/night). For two consecutive vegetative seasons, grafted potted grapevines (Pinot noir/SO4) were subjected to two different water regimes for at least 30 days: well-watered (WW) and water deficit (WD).