GiESCO 2019 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 GiESCO 9 Georgian vitis germplasm: conservation, research and usage

Georgian vitis germplasm: conservation, research and usage

Abstract

Context and purpose of the study – Grapevine Vitis vinifera L. is a leader perennial crops for the Republic of Georgia, the South Caucasus. This is a region where the first wine making practice was initiated 8.000 years ago (McGovern et al. 2017) and a spot of grape domestication. The country of Georgia holds 525 local and more than 60 breeding varieties – they are preserved in 9 field collections inside the country.The list of recommended wine cultivars contains 34 names, including 27 old autochthonous varieties and covering 94% of the country’s vineyards. The wild grapevine Vitis silvestris Gmel. is a typical representative of the country’s flora. Importance of this genetic resources is essential for selection and breeding dew to new challenges such as climate change, diseases, environmental concerns and market demands. The present study was organized for multidisciplinary research of identification, collection, characterization and conservation for Georgian grapevine germplasm diversity including autochthonous varieties and wild grapevines with the aim to improve local viticulture and wine making.

Material and methods – The research fields of this study contains ampelography, ampelometry, phenology, cytology, ripening profiles, chemo-taxonomy, DNA fingerprinting and screening for disease. Modern techniques of ampelography based on the OIV descriptors, methodology of the European projects GrapeGen06 and COST FA1003, and molecular genetics (SSR, SNPs) were used to investigate Georgian autochthonous varieties from 5 collections (Georgia, Italy, France) and wild grape from the territory of Georgia. This research is in progress since 2003.

Results – This riches of genetic resources of Georgian grapes and assortment of its wines attracts the international interest because of its diversity. As a result several international (Bioversity International, GrapeGen06, COST FA1003) and national projects have run in the last decade, with Georgia as leader or regional coordinator – the latest being the ongoing “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture” (National Wine Agency) and the “Wild grapevine of Georgia: Research and Preservation” (Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation). Being multidisciplinary these projects did grate effort for studding of wide aspects of Georgian grapes and wine, stimulated increasing of knowledge about them and promoting Georgian wines on the World market. As a result of these study large number of the local genetic resources have been certified using ampelography (morphology, phenology, anthocyanins), screening for resistances of downy mildew agent Plasmopara viticola, molecular fingerprinting, wine characteristics, made them available in the Vitis International Variety Catalogue and European Vitis database. The inventory of wild grape was carried out by organization of expeditions, more than 250 wild populations of Vitis silvestris Gmel.have been discovered and a field collection were established in 2014. Several books and articles dedicated to local varieties and wild grapevine were published in the last decade. But in the same time more efforts are needed to continue this work using new DNA technologies as well as ampelography technique in cooperation with other institutions.

DOI:

Publication date: March 11, 2024

Issue: GiESCO 2019

Type: Poster

Authors

David MAGHRADZE1*, Osvaldo FAILLA2, Roberto BACILIERI3, Gabriella DE LORENZIS 2Piero Attilio BIANCO2, Silvia TOFFOLATTI2, Rafael OCETE RUBIO4

1 Georgian Technical University (GTU), Tbilisi, Georgia
2 Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan, Italy
3 INRA, Montpellier SupAgro, Génétique de la Vigne, Montpellier, France
4 Laboratorio  de Entomologia Aplicada, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain

Contact the author

Keywords

Georgia, Grapevine, genetic resources, characterization, ampelography, DNA techniques

Tags

GiESCO | GiESCO 2019 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Impact of climate change on the viticultural climate of the Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (SE Spain)

Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (PDO Jumilla) is located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete and Murcia, in the South-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, where most of the models predict a severe impact of climate change in next decades. PDO Jumilla covers an area of 247,054 hectares, of which more than 22,000 hectares

A better understanding of the climate effect on anthocyanin accumulation in grapes using a machine learning approach

The current climate changes are directly threatening the balance of the vineyard at harvest time. The maturation period of the grapes is shifted to the middle of the summer, at a time when radiation and air temperature are at their maximum. In this context, the implementation of corrective practices becomes problematic. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the climate effect on the quality of different grape varieties remains very incomplete to guide these choices. During the Innovine project, original experiments were carried out on Syrah to study the combined effects of normal or high air temperature and varying degrees of exposure of the berries to the sun. Berries subjected to these different conditions were sampled and analyzed throughout the maturation period. Several quality characteristics were determined, including anthocyanin content. The objective of the experiments was to investigate which climatic determinants were most important for anthocyanin accumulation in the berries. Temperature and irradiance data, observed over time with a very thin discretization step, are called functional data in statistics. We developed the procedure SpiceFP (Sparse and Structured Procedure to Identify Combined Effects of Functional Predictors) to explain the variations of a scalar response variable (a grape berry quality variable for example) by two or three functional predictors (as temperature and irradiance) in a context of joint influence of these predictors. Particular attention was paid to the interpretability of the results. Analysis of the data using SpiceFP identified a negative impact of morning combinations of low irradiance (lower than about 100 μmol m−2 s−1 or 45 μmol m−2 s−1 depending on the advanced-delayed state of the berries) and high temperature (higher than 25oC). A slight difference associated with overnight temperature occurred between these effects identified in the morning.

Modeling the suitability of Pinot Noir in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in a changing climate

Air temperature is the key driver of grapevine phenology and a significant environmental factor impacting yield and quality for a winegrape growing region. In this study the optimal downscaled CMIP5 ensemble for computing thegrowing season average temperature (GST) viticulture climate classification index was determined to spatially compute on a decadal basis predictions of the GST climate index and the grapevine sugar ripeness (GSR) model for Pinot Noir throughout the Willamette Valley (WV) American Viticultural Area (AVA). Forecasts for average temperature and a 220 g/L target sugar concentration level were computed using daily Localized Constructed Analogs (LOCA) downscaled CMIP5 historic and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) future climate projections of minimum and maximum daily temperature. We explore spatiotemporal trends of the GST climate classification index and Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR phenology model for the WV AVA. Spatiotemporal computations of the GST climate index and Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR model enable the opportunity to explore relationships between their computed values with one intent being to provide updated GST ranges that better align with current temperature-based modeling understanding of Pinot Noir grapevine phenology and the viticultural application of LOCA CMIP5 climate projections for the WV AVA. The Pinot Noir specific applications of the GSR model or the GST index with updated bounds indicate that the percent of the WV AVA area suitable for Pinot Noir production is currently at or near its peak value in the upper 80s to lower 90s of this century.

Organic recycled mulches in sustainable viticulture: assessment of spontaneous plants communities and weed coverage

In recent years, developing more efficient and sustainable viticulture management has been essential due to the impact of climate change in semiarid regions. For this reason, the use of recycled organic mulching (ROM) in the vineyard has become an interesting strategy to cope with water stress, isolated soil from extreme temperatures and improving soil humidity, control the presence of weeds and therefore reduce the inputs of herbicides and improve soil fertility. This work aimed to analyse the effect of three different organic mulches [straw (S), grape pruning debris (GPD) and spent mushroom compost (SMC)] and two traditional soil management techniques [herbicide (H) and interrow (IN)] on weed coverage and the spontaneous plant communities’ presence. Data sampling was collected throughout the vine vegetative cycle of 2021 in La Rioja, Spain. The different soil management techniques had a clear effect on weed coverage and his development during the vine vegetative cycle. SMC and H were the treatments with the highest and the lowest coverage percentage, respectively. IN had a delayed weed emergence at the beginning of the vine vegetative cycle, but finally it reached maximum values nearby SMC. GPD and S had similar effects on weed emergence, reaching 25-30% of the maximum coverage values. A total of 29 herbaceous species were identified during the vegetative cycle, some of them very isolated and occasional. Principal component analysis (PCAs) showed a good association between spontaneous species and treatments, furthermore, specific species-treatment associations were found. Moreover, three clear groups of herbaceous communities were identified by cluster analysis. This study provides interesting information about the effect of different alternative soil management on herbaceous plant coverage and weed species communities which could contribute to making more sustainable viticulture.

Short-term relationships between climate and grapevine trunk diseases in southern French vineyards

[lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text="IVES" use_before_icon="on" before_icon="||divi||400" module_id="publication-ariane" _builder_version="4.19.4" _module_preset="default" module_text_align="center" module_font_size="16px" text_orientation="center"...