Composition of grape grown on different Homogenous Terroir Units (HTU)

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) has been used in a variety of biotechnology applications such as virus elimination, cryopreservation, induced mutagenesis and genetic transformation. The SE induction process may cause DNA alterations and ploidy changes, which may provide a source of genetic variability useful for the improvement of agronomic characteristics of plants. This research aims at investigating the spontaneous alterations of the genome in grapevine plants regenerated through SE. Regenerants obtained from different embryogenic events from three different grapevine genotypes (Catarratto, Frappato and Nero d’Avola) were analysed.

The notion of «terroir» refers to the link between the composition, quality and taste of a wine, on the one hand, and its place of origin, on the other. It involves, among other things, the signature of soil elements, as well as the influence of climatic conditions and plant material used. The composition of the wine is also influenced by the winemaking, storage and bottling processes. We were lucky enough to have a time series of the same champagne, from the end of the first world war to the present. On this exceptional time series, we followed, with the most advanced methods, all the elemental signatures by isotopic multi-dilution, the evolution of the isotopic ratios of heavy elements with very high precision of Sr, Pb, B and Cu.

During the more than 190 years since the founding of the first ampelographic collection, the creation of a series of collections is attested on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, each operating in different historical periods and socio-economic conditions,

Powdery mildew, caused by Erysiphe necator, is a widespread disease that causes high economical losses in viticulture. The main strategy to control the disease is the recurrent application of sulphur based phytochemical compounds. However, in order to reduce their accumulation in the environment and promote the sustainability of the sector, the European Commission has applied restrictions to the number of pesticide treatments and the maximum quantity of fungicides to be applied in viticulture. Seaweeds, in particular macroalgae, are marine resources rich in sulphated polysaccharides with bio-protective potential for the plant, representing an environmentally-friendly alternative approach for sustainable wine production.

The application of remote and proximal sensing is a fast and efficient method to monitor grapevine vegetative and physiological parameters and is considered valuable to derive information on associated yield and quality traits in the vineyard. Further details can be obtained by the application of molecular analysis at the gene expression level aiming at elucidating how pathways controlling the formation of different grape quality traits are influenced by spatial variability. This work aims at evaluating intra-vineyard variability in grape composition at harvest and at comparing this with remotely sensed canopy vegetation data and molecular-based approaches.