terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Fruit set rate clonal variation explains yield differences at harvest in Malbec

Fruit set rate clonal variation explains yield differences at harvest in Malbec

Abstract

Malbec is Argentina’s flagship variety, and it is internationally recognized for producing high-quality red wines. Fruit set rate is a major component in grapevine yield determination, and it is the outcome of multiple genetic and environmental interacting variables. Here, we characterized the reproductive performance of 25 Malbec clones grown under homogeneous conditions in a 23-years old experimental plot. We measured traits near flowering (like the number of flowers per inflorescence) and at harvest (including the number of berries per cluster and berry weight), during two consecutive seasons (2022 and 2023). After combining image-based systems to assist in the phenotyping with univariate and multivariate approaches for statistical analyses, we identified a wide range of clonal variation. For example, fruit set rate varied from 13.1 to 65.8% (avg. 38.4%) and from 9.8 to 50.0% (avg. 32.1%) in 2022 and 2023, respectively. A hierarchical clustering on principal components analysis identified three clonal groups of phenotypic similarity, consistent between seasons. Interestingly, two of these groups presented a similar number of flowers per inflorescence but markedly different fruit set rates. Consequently, clones from these two groups produced a significantly different number of berries per cluster. The in-depth analysis of clones assigned to these contrasting groups, for traits like pollen viability and flower morphology, allowed exploring the potential causes of the observed differences. We found that fruit set rate variation has multiple causes in Malbec, associated to anomalous flower development and functionality, which could ultimately impact on clonal yield differences at harvest.

DOI:

Publication date: June 13, 2024

Issue: Open GPB 2024

Type: Poster

Authors

Luciano Calderón1*, Javier Tello2*, Silvina van Houten1, Claudio Muñoz1,4, Tomas Oroño1, Laura Bree3, Daniel Bergamin3, Cristóbal Sola3, Natalia Carrillo4, José Miguel Martinez-Zapater2, Diego Lijavetzky1

1 Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza (CONICET-UNCuyo). Mendoza, Argentina
2 Instituto de las Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino (ICVV; CSIC, UR, Gobierno de La Rioja). Logroño, Spain
3 Vivero Mercier Argentina. Mendoza, Argentina
4 Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias (UNCuyo). Mendoza, Argentina

Contact the author*

Keywords

intra-varietal variation, reproductive performance, image-assisted phenotyping, flower development

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Open GPB | Open GPB 2024

Citation

Related articles…

Impact of glutathione-rich inactivated yeast on wine chemical diversity

Glutathione-rich inactivated dry yeasts (GSH-IDY) are claimed to accumulate intracellularly and then release glutathione in the must.

NIR spectroscopy as a contacless rapid tool to estimate the amino acids profile in intact grape berries

Nitrogen composition of grape berries plays a key role in determining wine quality, affecting the development of alcoholic fermentation and the formation of volatile compounds. Grape nitrogen composition is influenced by several factors such as viticultural practices, soil management, timing or rate of fertilization and use of rootstock, among others.In this study a proximal, non-destructive tool based on NIR spectroscopy is presented to track the accumulation of a wide range of amino acids in intact grape berries during the ripening process.

Staying hydrated – not easy when it’s hot!

Heat and drought episodes during the growing season are becoming more frequent and more severe in many of the world’s grape‐growing regions

History of inorganic and isotopic signatures in Champagne over the last century: lessons

The notion of «terroir» refers to the link between the composition, quality and taste of a wine, on the one hand, and its place of origin, on the other. It involves, among other things, the signature of soil elements, as well as the influence of climatic conditions and plant material used. The composition of the wine is also influenced by the winemaking, storage and bottling processes. We were lucky enough to have a time series of the same champagne, from the end of the first world war to the present. On this exceptional time series, we followed, with the most advanced methods, all the elemental signatures by isotopic multi-dilution, the evolution of the isotopic ratios of heavy elements with very high precision of Sr, Pb, B and Cu.

Recent advances in measuring, estimating, and forecasting grapevine yield and quality

Grapevine yield and fruit quality are two major drivers of input allocation and, ultimately, revenue for grape producers. Because yield and fruit quality vary substantially from year-to-year and within a single block, opportunities exist for optimization via precision management activities that could lead to more profitable and sustainable grape production. Here, we review recent advances in the techniques and technology used to measure, estimate, and forecast grapevine yield and fruit quality. First, we discuss direct “measurement” of yield and quality (i.e. ground-truth data generation), with an emphasis on potential for scalability and automation. Second, we discuss technology and techniques that do not directly measure yield and quality, but use correlated measurements for their estimation.