terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Congress on Grapevine and Wine Sciences 9 2ICGWS-2023 9 The influence of pre-heatwave leaf removal on leaf physiology and berry development

The influence of pre-heatwave leaf removal on leaf physiology and berry development

Abstract

Due to climate change, the occurrence of heatwaves and drought events is increasing, with significant impact on viticulture. Common ways to adapt viticulture to a changing climate include site selection, genotype selection, irrigation management and canopy management. The latter mentioned being for instance source-sink manipulations, such as leaf removal, with the aim to delay ripening.

However, there is limited knowledge on how leaf removal influences water relations, especially when applied immediately before a heatwave. The purpose of this study is to investigate how leaf removal (reducing the total leaf area by 30 % in the apical part of the canopy) influences leaf physiology and berry quality under multiple abiotic stress conditions. Using climate chambers that allow a fine control of the climatic conditions, a 5-day heatwave with maximum temperature of 40 °C will be simulated. The factorial experiment includes two levels of soil water availability (irrigated, drought stressed) and two levels of defoliation (defoliated, not defoliated) with the intention to determine how pre-heatwave leaf removal influences (I) the usage of water under heat and drought conditions, (II) leaf physiological performance (gas exchange, photosystem efficiency), as well as (III) berry development and quality (yield, chemical composition and berry mechanical properties). Our hypothesis is that, by significantly reducing the leaf area (i.e. water transpiring surface) before a heatwave, fewer irrigation water is needed to maintain a favorable water status. The experiment is currently ongoing (summer 2023), therefore we cannot provide preliminary results at this stage. Nevertheless, with our results we hope to validate leaf removal a new and easy to implement short-term adaption strategy to make viticulture more resilient in the context of climate change.

DOI:

Publication date: October 9, 2023

Issue: ICGWS 2023

Type: Poster

Authors

Mario Wegher1, 2*, Georg Niedrist2, Massimo Tagliavini1, Carlo Andreotti1

1Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy
2Institute for Alpine Environment, European Academy of Bolzano/Bozen, Drususallee 1, Bolzano, 39100, Italy

Contact the author*

Keywords

grapevine, drought stress, heat stress, leaf removal, berry quality

Tags

2ICGWS | ICGWS | ICGWS 2023 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Differential gene expression and novel gene models in 110 Richter uncovered through RNA Sequencing of roots under stress

The appearance of the Phylloxera pest in the 19th century in Europe caused dramatical damages in grapevine diversity. To mitigate these losses, grapevine growers resorted to using crosses of different Vitis species, such as 110 Richter (110R) (V. berlandieri x V. rupestris), which has been invaluable for studying adaptations to stress responses in vineyards. Recently, a high quality chromosome scale assembly of 110R was released, but the available gene models were predicted without using as evidence transcriptional sequences obtained from roots, that are crucial organs in rootstock, and they may express certain genes exclusively. Therefore, we employed RNA sequencing reads of 110R roots under different stress conditions to predict new gene models in each haplotype of 110R under different stresses.

Evaluation of physiological properties of grapevine clones of ‘Tempranillo’ and ‘Graciano’ in DOCa Rioja (Spain)

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.

Biotic and abiotic factors affecting physiological aspects underlying vegetative vigour in two commercial grapevine varieties

Grapevine vigour, defined as the propensity to assimilate, store and/or use non-structural sugars for allowing fast growth of shoots and producing large canopies[1], is crucial to optimize vineyard management. Recently, a model has been proposed for predicting the vigor of young grapevines through the measurement of the vegetative growth and physiological parameters, such as water status and gas exchange[2]. Our objectives were (1) to explore the influence of the association of two grapevine varieties (Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, grafted onto R110 rootstocks) with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the vegetative vigour of young plants; and (2) to assess the effect of environmental factors linked to climate change on the vegetative vigour of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Water availability at budbreak time in vineyards that are deficitary irrigated during the summer: Effect on must volatile composition


In recent years, Mediterranean regions are being affected by marked climate changes, primarily characterized by reduced precipitation, greater concurrence of temperature extremes and drought during the growing season, and increased inter-annual variability in temperatures and rainfall. Generally, high-quality red wines need moderate water deficit. Hence, irrigation may be needed to avoid severe vine water stress occurring in some vintages and soils with low holding capacity. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of soil recharge irrigation in pre-sprouting and summer irrigation every week (30 % ETO) from the pea size state until the end of ripening (RP) compared to exclusively summer irrigation every week (R) in the same way that RP, on must volatile composition at harvest.

Metatranscriptomic analysis of “aszú” berries: the potential role of the most important species of the grape microbiota in the aroma of wines with noble rot

Botrytis cinerea has more than 1200 host plants and is one of the most important plant pathogens in viticulture. Under certain environmental conditions, it can lead to the development of a noble rot, which results in a specific metabolic profile, altering physical texture and chemical composition. The other microbes involved in this process and their functional genes are poorly characterised. We have generated metatranscriptomic [1,2] and DNA metabarcoding data from three months of the Furmint grape variety, representing the four phases of noble rot, from healthy berries to completely dried berries.