Estimation of stomatal conductance and chlorophyll fluorescence in Croatian grapevine germplasm under water deficit    

The geology of the Western Cape testifies to the former existence of a late Precambrian supercontinent, its fragmentation, the closure of an ocean between the South African and South American continental precursors (Kalahari and Rio de la Plata cratons), the accumulation of marine sediments and limestones, and their compression during a collision between these cratons

Antão Vaz is a Portuguese white grapevine variety grown mainly in the wine-growing regions of Southern Portugal, particularly in the Alentejo, Lisbon and Setúbal peninsula regions. It is a very vigorous and productive variety, giving the wines a strong identity. It needs heat and sunlight and prefers deep and dry soils, which makes it tolerant to scald caused by the high summer temperatures of Southern Portugal. However, this variety is very susceptible to downy mildew, caused by plasmopara viticola, a very destructive disease in years with rainy springs.

The terroir is today the most important factor of production and development in the wine sector. In a context where the commercial challenge is taking place all over the place, the distinction between traditional and “new” producing countries is not only a geographical, cultural and technical counter position but also, and above all, a legal one. Indeed, the system of standards present in the “old world” (plantation rights, production decrees, yields per hectare, etc.) which may represent, in the short term on the global market, constraints to development and product innovation must become an opportunity. But threats become opportunities, if we work, from the vine to the market, via communication, more on the elements of difference than on those of affinity.

The decision for grape berries to ripen involves a complex interplay of genetic regulation and environmental cues. This review explores the molecular mechanisms underlying the transition from vegetative growth to ripening, focusing on transcriptomic studies and the role of the NAC gene family. Transcriptomic analyses reveal a significant rearrangement of gene expression patterns during this transition, with up-regulation of ripening-related genes and down-regulation of those associated with vegetative growth. A molecular phenology scale providing a high-precision map of berry transcriptomic development, indicates that key molecular changes occur well before the onset of ripening.

The “Anjou Terroirs” programme aims at bringing the necessary scientific basis for a ratio­nal and reasoned exploitation of the technical itinerary of the terroir. The scale study is 1/12500. For the mapping, many parameters, such as the granulometry or the depth of soil are observed to each point of caracterisation.