Tempranillo in semi-arid tropical climate (Pernambuco-Brazil). Adaptation of some clones and their affinity to different rootstocks

Context and Purpose of the study. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) symbiosis with grapevines is a key component of vineyard ecosystems.

The identification and management of intra-vineyard variability are key to precision viticulture, and sensors have been proven to be highly efficient tools for detecting these variations.

Phenolic acids are especially sensitive to oxidation, so they can greatly impact wine sensory characteristics and stability [1]. Furthermore, extracts derived from grape pomace have been previously postulated as possible oenological adjuvants for wine protection [2].

The quality of wine is assessed, among other things, by its color, which is mainly due to its anthocyanin content. These pigments are polyphenols that give red, purple and blue hues depending on the relative proportion of anthocyanins produced by the action of flavonoid 3’5′ hydroxylase (delphinidin-3-glucoside, petunidin-3-glucoside, malvidin-3-glucoside) or flavonoid 3′ hydroxylase (cyanidin-3-glucoside, peonidin-3-glucoside). To study the genes involved in this biosynthetic pathway, we focused on Vitis vinifera cv. Tannat, known for producing wines with higher anthocyanin content and darker purple color compared to most red grape varieties. In this work, we have performed RNA-Seq analysis of skins during berry development, taking green and red berries at 50% veraison as separate samples, as an experimental strategy to focus on the differential expression of genes of interest.

In grafted plants, such as grapevine, increasing the diversity of rootstocks available to growers is an ideal strategy to get adaptation to climate change. The rootstocks used for grapevine are hybrids of various American Vitis, including V. berlandieri. The rootstocks currently used in vineyards are derived from breeding programs involving very small numbers of parental individuals.