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

Grapevine cultivars can be unequivocally typed by both physical differences (ampelography) and genetic tests. However due to their very similar characteristics, the identification of clones within a cultivar relies on the accurate tracing of supply records to the point of origin. Such records are not always available or reliable, particularly for older accessions. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) provides the most highly detailed methodology for defining grapevine cultivars and more importantly, this can be extended to differentiating clones within those cultivars.

In the production of sparkling wines, during the second fermentation, mannoproteins are released by yeast autolysis, which affect the quality of the wines. The effect of mannoproteins has been extensively studied, and may affect aroma and foam quality. However, there are no studies on the effect of other polysaccharides such as those from grapes. Considering the large production of waste from the wine industry, it was proposed to obtain polysaccharide-rich extracts from some of these by-products[1].

The presence of acetic acid bacteria in wine can lead to the appearance of acetic acid at concentrations above the perception threshold, causing the wine rejection by the consumer. During the winemaking process, avoiding the presence of acetic acid bacteria is very difficult, as there is always a residual population accompanying the wine[1], and the problem arises with the significant development of these microorganisms that metabolizes large amounts of acetic acid.
The concern of wineries to control the presence of acetic acid bacteria in wines during their conservation is due to the absence of simple and effective analyses that allow the detection of these microorganisms in the initial stages.

The utilization of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in the wine industry has increased significantly in recent years. Alternative species need commonly be employed in combination with Saccharomyces cerevisiae to avoid stuck fermentation, or microbial spoilage. The employment of more than one yeast starter can lead to interactions between different species with an impact on the outcome of wine fermentation. Previous studies[1] demonstrated that S. cerevisiae elicits transcriptional responses with both shared and species-specific features in co-culture with other yeast species.

‘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).