VITOUR – The European World Heritage Vineyards

Secondary (or specialised) metabolites such as terpenes and phenolic compounds are produced by plants for various roles which include defence against pathogens and herbivores, protection against abiotic stress, and plant signalling. Additionally, these metabolites influence grapevine quality traits such as colour, aroma, taste, and nutritional value. However, the biosynthesis of these metabolites is often complex and controlled by multiple genes which in grapevine are predominantly uncharacterised.

AIM: A genetic study of four wine T. delbrueckii strains was done. Spore clones free of possible recessive growth‐retarding alleles with enhanced resistance to winemaking stressing conditions were obtained from these yeasts. METHODS: The genetic marker of resistance to cycloheximide (cyhR) allows easy monitoring of the new mutants obtained from these yeasts.

Proteins constitute one of the three main components of grape juice and white wine, phenolic compounds and polysaccharides being the others. A specific group of the total grape-derived proteins resists degradation or adsorption during the winemaking process and remains in finished wine if not removed by the commonplace commercial practice of bentonite fining. While bentonite is effective in removing the problematic proteins, it is claimed to adversely affect the quality of the treated wine under certain conditions, through the removal of colour, flavor and texture compounds. A number of studies have indicated that different protein fractions require distinct bentonite concentrations for protein removal and consequent heat stabilization.

Grapevine is a crop of great economic importance for several countries. The intensification of grapevine production has mostly been sustained by the increasing use of water resources at the expense of the environmental water balance. Moreover, in the last decades, climate change and the consequent expansion of drought have further compromised water availability, making current agricultural systems even more fragile both ecologically and economically. Recently, many research groups have highlighted the important role of endophytes in facilitating plant growth under optimal or stressful conditions. Within the framework of the PRIMA project, we aim to investigate the possible exploitation of the natural endophyte biodiversity as a sustainable tool to make grapevine plants more resilient to water deficit environmental conditions.

The photosynthetic characteristics of twenty varieties of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) from Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) and two widespread varieties