Exploring high throughput secondary trait phenomics to improve grapevine breeding

In the province of Frosinone from 1850 they are cultivated in some zones wine grape of French origin like Merlot, Cabernet franc Cabernet sauvignon, Sirah, Pinot noir. The insertion of these varieties was the work of Pasquale Visocchi in the great company of family “Fratelli Visocchi Proprietari” (F. V.P.).

I territori della Riserva Geologica del Piacenziano sono parte del pedeappennino piacentino e sono noti per essere la culla del Pliocene, quel periodo di storia della Terra compreso tra 5.3 e 1.8 milioni di anni fa. Gli strati argillosi e sabbiosi riccamente fossiliferi qui presenti sono da sempre oggetto di studi geo-paleontologici tant’è che il Pliocene medio (3.6-2.6 milioni di anni fa) è internazionalmente noto come Piacenziano. Le analisi sensoriali strutturate dei vini qui prodotti hanno evidenziato, soprattutto per il vino Monterosso, le positive peculiarità dei loro caratteri sensoriali e descritto gli scostamenti significativi del loro profilo sensoriale rispetto agli altri vini presi a riferimento.

Foliar application of urea may be an efficient way to alter grape and wine composition without increasing vine vigor. However, we know little about the impact of this practice on phenolic compounds and yeast assimilable nitrogen (YAN). Adequate YAN is required for an efficient and complete fermentation, while phenolics are particularly important for the sensory profile of red wines. The goal of this study is to test the impact of foliar urea application at veraison, compared to the traditional soil-applied nitrogen fertilization early in the season, on Syrah berry and wine composition in field conditions.

Climate transition with frequent heat waves and long drought periods threatens grapevine productivity and wine quality in the Mediterranean regions. Microorganisms are known to contribute to plant fitness and to stimulate plant resilience against biotic and abiotic factors.
In this work, it was assessed the impact of long-term drought on soil microbiome associated to grapevine in open field in Alentejo, renowned Portuguese wine region.
Soil and plant tissues of drought tolerant Syrah cultivar exposed to three irrigation levels (100%- FI, 50%-DI ETc; rain-fed–NI) for 5 years were sampled for two years (2022-2023). Metabarcoding analysis of soil bacteria (16S V4 rRNA) and fungi (ITS sub-region) were integrated with soil physiochemical properties and leaves´ physiological data. Pre-dawn leaf water potential and stomatal conductance confirmed the imposed drought scenarios. Even though, α- and β-diversity of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial communities differed more by season than water availability, samples clustered according to soil water content and pH (p<0.05). Fungal communities show higher differences in the structure across treatments than bacteria. In 2023, 16 bacterial against 61 fungal ASVs were significatively different in abundance between NI and FI. Beijerinckiaceae, Bradyrhizobiaceae (Alphaproteobacteria) and Nocardioidaceae, Streptomycetaceae (Actinobacteria) families resulted to be significatively more abundant in NI, while Ascomycota, Basidyomicota and Mortierellomycota are the most important fungal phyla in NI. With culturomics data, this study aims to gather insights into how soil microbiome is remodelled under drought and contribute to select bacterial and fungal taxa with potential to mitigate drought stress in vineyards.

Water scarcity, high air temperatures, high vapor pressure deficit, and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events, namely heat waves, exert huge pressure on viticulture, as is the case of Mediterranean climates. Therefore, farmers rely more and more on irrigation to overcome these constraints. Deficit irrigation is a proved strategy to optimize irrigation efficiency and wine quality. The present study intends to demonstrate the application of precision techniques, namely remote sensing derived vegetation indices (VI) and an open source software, SIMDualKc, to compute crop evapotranspiration using the dual crop coefficient approach (Kcb + Ke), for deficit irrigation management.