Genetic determinism of grapevine development stages as a tool for the adaptation to climate change

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2024, German Puga (Wine Economics Research Centre, School of Economics and Public Policy, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia) speaks about a climatic classification of the world’s wine regions and winegrape variety concentration. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on OENO One.

Vitis champinii cultivars Ramsey and Dog-ridge are main choices for rootstocks to adapt viticulture in semi-arid and arid regions thanks to their distinctive tolerance to drought and salinity. However, genetic studies on non-vinifera rootstocks have heavily relied on the grapevine (Vitis vinifera) reference genome, which difficulted the assessment of the genetic variation between rootstock species and grapevines. In the present study, this limitation is addressed by introducing a novo phased genome assembly and annotation of Vitis champinii. This new Vitis champinii genome was employed as reference for mapping RNA-seq reads from the same species under drought and salt stresses, and for comparison the same reads were also mapped to the Vitis vinifera PN40024.V4 reference genome. A significant increase in alignment rate was gained when mapping Vitis champinii RNA-seq reads to its own genome, compared to the Vitis vinifera PN40024.V4 reference genome, thus revealing the expression levels of genes specific to Vitis champinii. Moreover, differences in coding sequences were observed in ortholog genes between Vitis champinii and Vitis vinifera, which therefore challenges previous differential expression analyses performed between contrasting Vitis genotypes on the same gene from the Vitis vinifera genome. Genes with possible implications in drought and salt tolerance have been identified across the genome of Vitis champinii, and the same genomic data can potentially guide the discovery of candidate genes specific from Vitis champinii for other traits of interest, therefore becoming a valuable resource for rootstock breeding designs, specially towards increased drought and salinity due to climate change.

Through the years, extensive studies have been conducted on fungal biodiversity during the winemaking process: from the vineyard until aging.

Vineyard water management in Australia is often associated with irrigation in warm and hot climates, but in cooler regions the larger share of the seasonal water demand is met by rainfall.

The Mediterranean climate of The Priorat AOC, situated behind the coastal mountain range of Tarragona, tends towards continentality with very little precipitation during the vegetation cycle. The soil is poor, dry and rocky, largely composed of slate schist, known as “llicorella”. Vines primarily grow on steep slopes and terraces.