Plant propagation in ancient times: possible impacts on cultivar selection during grapevine domestication

Abstract

Propagation techniques played a significant role in the early domestication of plants. It probably contributed to the key transition for early humans from a nomadic hunter-gatherer existence to settled agricultural communities based on cultivating their plant resources.

The propagation (vegetative and sexual) aptitudes of the two subspecies (sylvestris and sativa) of Vitis vinifera were compared. To testwhether domestication has had an effect on the grapevine’s capacity for rooting and therefore vegetative propagation, 1,061 grapevine cuttings from 9 different accessions were studied for 200 days in two different experimental sites in Georgia. Considering sexualpropagation, germination of 13200 seeds coming from 6 accessions in Italy and 19 accessions in Georgia was tested, after exposure to different ways for conservation or processing (fresh, drying, and fermentation).

The results demonstrate the greater aptitude for vegetative propagation of the sativa subspecies, contrasted with the greater efficiency in sexual reproduction of wild vines. This shift in propagation aptitudes can be considered one of the symptoms of the domestication syndrome, and it is consistent with the hypothesis that already in prehistoric times the grapevine was propagated by vegetative means.

During domestication, therefore, there was a selective pressure focused on traits (e.g. rooting of cuttings and ethanol tolerance of seeds) that are less interest today, while for the last 150 years Vitis vinifera sativa is propagated exclusively by grafting for the establishment of the vineyards, and the seeds are used only by the breeders making complex evaluation of the seedlings before selection. The aptitudefor propagation techniques during the domestication phase may therefore have created a bottleneck in varietal selection, needlesslyreducing the genetic variability of the cultivated grapevine.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend a special thank you to Patrick McGovern for his enthusiasm and for his important contribution to the research through interesting scientific discussions.

The authors acknowledge the experimental farms of Jighaura (Scientific Research Centre for Agricultural) and Claudio Quarta Winery for providing grapes supporting our experiment.

This article is a result of the grant of the Caucasus International University (CIU) entitled “Investigation of grapevine’s seed germination rate of various genotypes for detection of the propagation potential and obtaining of initial breeding materials” (2025-2026) in the category of fundamental research and of the grant of the LEPL National Wine Agency’s “Scientific Research on Georgian Vine and Wine Culture” (Contract № 393 on State Procurement). Furthermore, the overall work fulfils some goals of the Project CLEARGENES “CLimatE chAnge Resilience GENES in Italian fruits and vegetables” – Bandi a Cascata – Programma AGRITECH CN00000022 – CUP UNIPD C93C2200279000-PNRR – M4C2 – Inv. 1.4, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU Codice progetto SP4_WP4.1.1_CLEARGENES.

References

Maghradze D., Rehman S., Chutlashvili A., Kikilashvili S., Kikvadze M., Shamugia A., Charkviani S., McGovern P., Failla O., Gotsiridze O., Rossetti G., Rustioni L., 2025. Differences in rooting ability between wild and cultivated Vitis vinifera. OENO One | By IVES, volume 59–3.

Maghradze D., Rehman S., Dimaglie M., Rossetti G., Kikilashvili S., Kikvadze M., Shamugia A., Gotsiridze O., Chutlashvili A., FaillaO., Rustioni L., under review. The germinability of fermented seeds could represent an inadvertent selective bottleneck during grapevine domestication.