Functional characterization of grapevine MLO genes to define their roles in Powdery mildew susceptibility by CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing

Terroir zoning studies have to manage the heterogeneity and complexity of the landscape properties and processes. The varying geology is one of the main landscape properties conditioning the spatial variability of terroirs.

Wine is a luxury product and a global beverage steeped in history and mystery. Over time, various regions have become renowned for the quality of wines they produce, which adds considerable value to the regions and the brands. On the whole, the international wine market is worth many hundreds of billions of dollars, which attracts unscrupulous operators intent on defrauding wine consumers.

Rootstocks are gaining importance in viticulture as a strategy to combat abiotic challenges, as well as enhancing scion physiology and attributes. Therefore, understanding how the rootstock affects photosynthesis is insightful for genetic improvement of either genotype in the grafted grapevines. Photosynthetic parameters such as maximum rate of carboxylation of RuBP (Vcmax) and the maximum rate of electron transport driving RuBP regeneration (Jmax) have been identified as ideal targets for breeding and genetic studies. However, techniques used to directly measure these photosynthetic parameters are limited to the single leaf level and are time-consuming measurements.

With its Farm-to-Fork Strategy, which is a part of the European Green Deal, the European Union aims at reducing the amount of pesticides used in agriculture by 50% until 2030. As viticulture uses around 70% of the fungicides in the EU, there is substantial pressure on winemakers to reduce their pesticide input. On top of the political goal, winegrowers face increased pressure from the public demanding a more sustainable production of wine.

Retrotransposons, particularly of the Ty-Copia and Ty-Gypsy superfamilies, represent the most abundant and widespread transposons in many plant genomes. Grapevine is no exception and it is clear that these mobile elements have played a major role in the evolution of Vitaceae genomes. While speculation abounds around the possible role of transposons in plant genomes, outside of the rather obvious involvement of retrotransposition in fueling genome expansion, there is little clarity of the actual role these elements have in both developing new genetic variation and in modulating epigenetic responses within genomes to changing climate. To this end we have been exploring de-novo assembled Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir genomes with a view to catalogue retrotransposon loci to determine the structural intactness and thus age of insertion variation across a small number of clonal linages of these 2 varietals in an attempt to identify ‘live’ TE loci.