Grapevine adaptation to drought and resistance to Neofusicoccum parvum, causal agent of Botryosphaeria dieback

INTEGRAPE was a European interdisciplinary network for “data integration to maximize the power of omics for grapevine improvement” (CA17111, https://integrape.eu/), funded by the European COST Association from September 2018 to 2022. This Action successfully developed guidelines and tools for data management and promoted the best practices in grapevine omics studies with a holistic future vision of: “Imagine having all data on grapevine accessible in a single place”.

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.

Botrytis cinerea, a fungal pathogen commonly known as grey mold, which under specific climatic conditions can develop into a desirable form known as noble rot. In this process the fungus penetrates the grape skin, allowing water evaporation and concentration of sugars and flavors, while profoundly affects the metabolite composition of grapes, leading to the production of unique and desirable compounds in the resulting wines. The result is a unique and complex wine with a luscious sweetness, heightened aromatics, and a distinct character.

The use of grapevine genetic diversity is a way to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on viticulture systems. Leaf epidermal flavonoids (including flavonols and anthocyanins) are involved in plant defense mechanisms against environmental stresses, like high temperatures or excessive solar radiation [1,2]. Among other factors, they modulate light absorption, which reduces photoinhibition processes in photosynthetic tissues [1]. Therefore, the identification of grapevine cultivars with an increased content on leaf epidermal flavonoids arises as a potential avenue to improve grapevine tolerance to some detrimental environmental stresses.

Bobal is the second most widely grown Spanish red grape variety (54,165 has), mainly cultivated in the Valencian Community and especially, in Utiel-Requena region (about 67% of 34,000 has). In this study, agronomic and enological parameters were determined in 98 biotypes selected during 2018 and 2019 in more than 50 vineyards over 50 years-old in the Utiel-Requena region. Moreover, a multi-criteria approach considering temperature and rainfall (Fig. 1A), among other parameters, was made to establish three different zones within the region (Fig. 1B), where in the future the selected biotypes will evaluated. In fact, in 2020, 4 replicates and 12 vines per biotype were planted in an experimental vineyard to preserve this important intra-cultivar diversity.