Response of red grape varieties irrigated during the summer to water availability at the end of winter in four Spanish wine-growing regions: berry phenolic composition

‘Tempranillo Tinto’ is a black-berried Iberian cultivar that originated from a hybridization between cvs. ‘Benedicto’ and ‘Albillo Mayor’ [1]. Today, it is the third most widely grown wine grape cultivar worldwide with more than 200,000 hectares of vineyards mostly distributed along the Iberian Peninsula, where it is also known as ‘Cencibel’, ‘Tinta de Toro’, ‘Tinta Roriz’, and ‘Aragonez’, among other synonyms. Here, we quantified the intra-varietal genomic diversity in this cultivar through the study of 35 clones or ancient vines from seven different Iberian wine-making regions. A comparative analysis after Illumina whole-genome sequencing revealed the presence of 1,120 clonal single nucleotide variants (SNVs).

In Chile there is a dry farming area known as a traditional wine region, where varieties brought by the Spanish conquerors still persist. These varieties, in general, are cultivated under traditional systems, with low use of technical and economic resources, and low profitability for their grapes and wines. In this region, as in other wine grape growing areas, climatic conditions have changed significantly in recent decades. In particular, the occurrence of spring frosts, when bud break has already begun, have generated significant losses for these growers.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a multifactorial autoimmune disease associating demyelination and axonal degeneration developing in young adults and affecting 2–3 million people worldwide. Plant polyphenols endowed with many therapeutic benefits associated with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties represent highly interesting new potential therapeutic strategies. We recently showed the safety and high efficiency of grape seed extract (GSE), a complex mixture of polyphenolics compounds comprising notably flavonoids and proanthocyanidins, in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constitute a diverse group of secondary metabolites key for the communication of plants with other organisms and for their adaptation to environmental and biotic stresses. The emission of these compounds through leaves is also affected by the interaction of plants with symbiotic microorganisms, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) among them [1]. Our objective was to know the concentration and profile of VOCs emitted by the leaves of two grapevine varieties (Tempranillo, T, and Cabernet Sauvignon, CS, grafted onto R110 rootstocks), inoculated or not with a consortium of five AMF (Rhizophagus irregularis, Funneliformis mosseae, Septoglomus deserticola, Claroideoglomus claroideum and C. etunicatum).

The definition of soil health is complex due to the lack of agreement on adequate indicators and to the high variability of global soils. Nevertheless, it has been widely used as synonymous of soil quality for more than one decade, and there is a consensus warning of scientists that soil quality and biodiversity loss are occurring due to the traditional intensive agricultural practices.
In this work we monitored a set of soil parameters, both physicochemical and microbiological, in an experimental vineyard under three different management and land use systems: a) addition of external organic matter (EOM) to tilled soil; b) no tillage and plant cover between grapevine rows, and c) grapevines planted in rows running down the slope and tilled soil.