Assessment of plant water consumption rates under climate change conditions through an automated modular platform

Crops are facing increasing biotic and abiotic stress pressures due to global changes. However, trade-off mechanisms between these stresses and the underlying physiological processes are still poorly understood, especially in perennial crop species. To better understand these trade-offs, we studied the effect of drought on grapevine (Vitis vinifera) physiology and esca-related wood fungal communities. Esca is a vascular disease caused by a community of wood-infecting pathogenic fungi, and characterized by trunk necrosis, leaf scorch symptoms, yield losses, and mortality.

Addressing modifiable risk factors is the most promising strategy to prevent/delay Alzheimer Disease (AD)[1]. The aim of the study was to establish the connections between dietetic habits, wine consumption and AD. Thus, 98 volunteers were recruited: 50 diagnosed as AD and 48 healthy/controls. The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used for dietary patterns assessment and, based on these data, the Mind Diet Score was calculated. (Poly)phenol metabolites (especially derived from wine consumption) were analyzed by UPLC-QqQ-MS/MS in 24-h urine samples to confirm dietary (poly)phenol consumption.

Traditional drought tolerant varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell, and Syrah [1], have been used as parents in the grapevine breeding program initiated by the Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Medioambiental (IMIDA) in 1997 [2]. This work presents the results of evaluating three new genotypes obtained from crosses between ‘Monastrell’ and ‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ (MC16 and MC80) and between ‘Monastrell’ and ‘Syrah’ (MS104), comparing their performance under conditions of water scarcity and high temperatures with that of their respective parental varieties. For this purpose, the six genotypes were cultivated under controlled irrigation conditions (60% ETc) and rainfed conditions.

Recently, foliar treatments with mineral-based compounds have shown positive effects on grapevine production by protecting grape from thermal excesses and reducing the decoupling between technological and phenolic maturity caused by climate change. Unraveling the effect of mineral particle applications on grape-associated microbes is pivotal for successful wine processing, due to the influence of the microbiota on wine composition and stability. To our knowledge, this is the first work that comprehensively studied the effects of kaolin and chabasite-rich zeolitites treatments on grape-related microorganisms (by real-time PCR quantification of total fungi, Hanseniospora uvarum, Metschnikowia pulcherrima, plant-associated bacteria and lactic acid bacteria), the expression of genes related to the flavonoid biosynthesis (PAL1, CHS1, F3H2, DFR, LDOX, UFGT, MYBA1, GST4, FLS4 genes) and the berry composition (°Brix, pH, acidity and anthocyanin concentrations) in cv. Sangiovese during ripening in two growing seasons (2019 and 2020).

Esca, a severe trunk disease affecting vineyards, is caused by fungal pathogens that induce wood necrosis and decay, leaf symptoms, yield losses, and potentially a rapid death of the vine. The prevalence of this disease varies across years, regions, cultivars, and plot ages. Despite its significance in understanding and predicting dieback risk in different vineyards, the role of climate in trunk diseases remains a relatively unexplored research area. While some studies have demonstrated the impact of certain climatic conditions on the prevalence of the disease, they often focus on a limited number of plots and yield conflicting results.We conducted a statistical analysis, using a Bayesian approach on a national database comprising prevalence data of esca from over 500 different plots in France, spanning the years 2003 to 2022 and encompassing various cultivars.