Advancements in genetic and environmental factors for grapevine breeding against grape ripe rot

Abstract

Completed or ongoing projects were designed to identify, refine, and optimize phenotypic and molecular criteria for geneticimprovement and management practices, aiming to reduce the incidence and severity of grape ripe rot (GRR). When GRR occurs, winegrowers harvest the grapes before physiological maturity or when the infected berries, leading to low wine quality in both cases. In addition, no effective chemical control of GRR is currently available, as it is caused by multispecies pathogens. Importantly, the diseaseis caused by multiple pathogen species and is highly aggressive in Southern Brazil, highlighting the need for genetic and sustainable solutions. So far, research activities related to GRR have enabled: discrimination of grapevine genotypes according to the degree of resistance to GRR, selection of parents for future crossing, generation of segregating populations for future resistance genes mapping, quantification of the genotype × environment interaction in three grow grapevine regions of Santa Catarina, characterization of the genetic diversity of Colletotrichum spp., development of a diagramatic scale for disease assessment, identification of differential responses of genotypes to distinct Colletotricum spp. isolates, association between anthocyanin and polyphenol concentrations with GRR incidenceand aggressiveness, mycoparasitism and antagonism of Trichoderma spp. against Colletotrichum spp., among others. The obtained results increased the scientific knowledge about the interaction between grapevine × Colletotrichum spp. and added additional criteria tosupport genetic breeding concerning the selection efficiency. Along-term purpose, a new grapevine variety with resistance genes to multiple diseases, including GRR, which is underway between UFSC and Epagri, will allow for lower production costs, reduced environmental and human health risks due to decreased fungicide use, and better alignment with consumer demands.

Acknowledgements

CNPq, Fapesc, CAPES