Veraison as determinant for wine quality and its potential for climate adapted breeding

Due to the global demand for terroir wines, the winemaking industry has focused attention on exploiting the local yeast microflora of each wine growing region to express the regional character and enhance the sensory profile of wines such as varietal typicity and aroma complexity. The objective of the present study was to isolate and compare the indigenous strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae present in different vineyards in the Mesogeia – Attiki wine region (Greece), evaluate their impact on chemical composition and sensory profile of Savatiano wines and select the most suitable ones for winemaking process.

Viral diseases are reported to cause several detrimental effects on grapevine. Among them, leafroll, due to single or mixed infection of GLRaV1 and GLRaV3, and rugose wood, associated to GVA, are considered the most widespread and dangerous.

Une étude de la physiologie de la vigne (cv. Merlot) et de la qualité des vins a été réalisée au Tessin de 2006 à 2008. La méthodologie utilisée pour cette étude intégrait tous les paramètres qui définissent les terroirs: facteurs naturels (géologie, pédologie et climat), facteurs physiologiques de la vigne et qualité des vins qui sont les révélateurs de la valeur d’un terroir.

Downy mildew, caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Berl. & De Toni, is one of the most destructive grapevine diseases mostly affecting Vitis vinifera L. and impacting on viticulture. The pathogen invasion can induce in grapevine multiple defense reactions, first PAMP-Triggered Immunity and secondly Effector-Triggered Immunity. Plasmopara viticola can overcome these defense mechanisms through the secretion of effectors, such as RxLR, into the plant cells, making it easier for the oomycete to infect grapevines. Currently, the use of chemical pesticides remains the most effective way to control the pathogen with severe negative side effects on the environment and animal health.

The appearance of the Phylloxera pest in the 19th century in Europe caused dramatical damages in grapevine diversity. To mitigate these losses, grapevine growers resorted to using crosses of different Vitis species, such as 110 Richter (110R) (V. berlandieri x V. rupestris), which has been invaluable for studying adaptations to stress responses in vineyards. Recently, a high quality chromosome scale assembly of 110R was released, but the available gene models were predicted without using as evidence transcriptional sequences obtained from roots, that are crucial organs in rootstock, and they may express certain genes exclusively. Therefore, we employed RNA sequencing reads of 110R roots under different stress conditions to predict new gene models in each haplotype of 110R under different stresses.