Application of plant growth regulators on Vitis vinifera L var. Mouchtaro affect berry quality characteristics & associated microbial communities

Irrigation of vineyards is a matter of controversial arguments at areas of high quality wine production. Besides, the effects of the water in the plant are closer related to the water availability than to the irrigation regime.

Climate change is affecting wine production and inducing significant variability in wine composition between vintages.

Plants have evolved different strategies to cope with environmental stresses and, although still debated, it was observed that they can remember past stress occurrence.
Anatomical and physiological adjustments have been observed in different grapevine cultivars after repeated drought exposure, however epigenetic, transcriptional and biochemical changes associated with drought-primed ecological memory have been poorly studied.
This work was conceived to test whether exposure to recurring events of mild drought could prime vines to endure severe drought stress. Particularly, we investigated whether the expected improved stress tolerance of Vitis vinifera cv Nebbiolo plants subjected over years to moderate and long-lasting water stress events (WS-primed) depended on molecular memory phenomena or on resetting of stress-induced signals.

Esters play an essential role in the young white wines’ fruity expression, particularly the groups of ethyl esters of fatty acids (EEFAs) and higher alcohol acetates (HAAs) [1]. However, generally, these groups of esters decrease relatively fast during the first two years of ageing [1, 2].

Nowadays, many policies are being adopted for direct agriculture towards more sustainable approaches. To continue to maintain a high production using fewer fertilizers, pesticides and water resources, agronomic techniques must be combined with biotechnological approaches. In grapevine, the breeding programs are restricted by the fact that it has a highly heterozygous genome, therefore, if on the one hand, we try to improve the characteristics, on the other hand it is necessary to preserve the original genome of the varieties. CRISPR-cas9 system is one of the smartest tools to carry out highly precise genetic modifications leaving the genetic background unchanged.