Integrative study of Vitis biodiversity for next-generation breeding of grapevine rootstocks 

In order to avoid the loss of grapevine intra-varietal diversity of DOCa Rioja grape varieties, Regional Government of La Rioja established a germplasm bank with more than 1.600 accessions, whose origin lies in the prospecting and sampling of ancient vineyards located throughout the whole region. 30 clones of Tempranillo and 13 clones of Graciano were preselected and multiplied in a new vineyard for further observations. The aim of this work is to describe the first results from the physiological characterization by an optical sensor of these preselected clones, which constitute the base of a new clonal selection that aims to increase the range of available certified clones and to improve the adaptation of these varieties to future objectives and environmental conditions.

Biostimulants and biofertilizers are considered environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternatives to synthetic fertilizers, plant growth regulators and crop improvement products. Broadly, plant biostimulants are expected to improve nutrient use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, quality traits and availability of nutrients in the soil or rhizosphere. Currently, seaweed extracts account for more than 33% of the total plant biostimulant market. Within this category, Ascophyllum nodosum (AN), is the most widely studied and applied in biostimulant formulations.

In Ancient Egypt, wine was a luxury product consumed mainly by the upper classes and the royal family and offered to gods in daily religious rituals in the temples.
Since the Predynastic (4000-3100 BC) period, wine jars were placed in tombs as funerary offerings. From the Old Kingdom (2680-2160 BC) to the Greco-Roman (332 BC-395 AD) period, viticulture and winemaking scenes were depicted on the private tombs’ walls. During the New Kingdom (1539-1075 BC), wine jars were inscribed to indicate: vintage year, product, quality, provenance, property and winemaker’s name and title.

The Maule region hosts up to a third of the total area of vineyards in Chile, in an environment where ancient practices inherited from the colonial past coexist with modernity and dynamism that include technified irrigation and fine vines. In the dry land of Maule there is a viticulture that has subsisted with ancient vines and traditions transmitted over generations, and there is little clarity about the origin and classification of the Maule viticulture, giving rise to the use of different concepts as synonyms to describe the ancient, minority, patrimonial or Criollas vines. In order to characterize and protect the ancient material, we studied the genetic diversity of a territorial collection that covers 80% of the communes of the region, prioritizing plants established more than 40-60 years ago.

Every year, viticulture is facing several outbreaks caused by established diseases, such as downy mildew and grey mould, which possess different life cycles and modes of infection. To cope with these different aggressors, grapevine must recognize them and arm itself with an arsenal of defense strategies.
The regulation of secondary metabolites is one of the first reactions of plants upon pathogen challenge. Their rapid biosynthesis can highly contribute to strengthen the defense mechanisms allowing the plant to adapt, defend and survive.