Seedlessness is a key quality trait in table grapes. In Vitis vinifera, seedlessness can originate from different biological processes: parthenocarpy, the fruit formation without fertilization, or steno-spermocarpy, when fertilization occurs but is followed by aborted seed development.
While most cultivated grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) possess perfect flowers, their wild ancestors were dioecious.
Epigenetic mechanisms, particularly post-translational histone modifications, are pivotal regulators of phenotypic plasticity in perennial crops.
Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a versatile organism and a key worldwide crop. One well-studied aspect of grapevine biology concerns the important agricultural trait of fruit color variation.
Grapevine resistance breeding relies on a limited number of major resistance loci (Rpv) to control Plasmopara viticola.
New Plant Breeding Techniques (NPBTs), and particularly genome editing, represent a powerful avenue to enhance disease resilience in perennial crops.
Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most widely cultivated and emblematic crops in the world. Understanding the biology of grapevine, and how plant genetics determines the general performance of a variety is crucial for its optimization and quality monitoring.
DNA–protein interactions play a fundamental role in essential cellular processes such as transcriptional regulation, DNA replication, recombination, and repair. Investigating these interactions is therefore crucial for understanding gene regulatory networks.
Studying disease resistance loci in grapevines (Vitis) is a complex process because resistance QTL often coincide with highly-repetitive NLR gene clusters that are difficult to analysis bioinformatically, requiring extra time and attention to fully characterize.
In contrast to most crops, Vitis vinifera has benefited little from classical breeding due to its high heterozygosity.
Grapevine rootstocks remain the primary defence against phylloxera and soil-borne stresses in viticulture. However, increasing climatic variability and emerging environmental constraints demand the development of improved, climate-resilient rootstock varieties.
Achieving intense berry coloration and high phenolic ripeness represents a major challenge in cool climate viticulture, where lower temperatures often limit anthocyanin accumulation and the production of full-bodied red wines.
Grape downy mildew, caused by the oomycete Plasmopara viticola, is one of the major diseases threatening the viticulture industry.
Vitis vinifera L. is a perennial woody vine of global importance, both in terms of economic value and geographical distribution.
Grapevine black rot, caused by the ascomycete Phyllosticta ampelicida (Engelm.), formerly known as Guignardia bidwellii, is re-emerging as a major disease in European vineyards.