Increasing pressures from both biotic and abiotic stresses threaten grapevine health and vineyard productivity worldwide. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculants have been shown to offer a promising bio-based alternative to mitigate abiotic stress and pathogen attack by enhancing nutrient uptake, water relations, and plant defence mechanisms.
Until the second half of the nineteenth century, viticulture in Europe was free from phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae) and grapevines were cultivated on their own roots. With the introduction of phylloxera in 1863, viticulture came under severe pressure as the pest eradicated more than 2.5 million hectares of viticultural area.
The response of grapevine to drought is a complex trait that involves several morphological adaptations and physiological pathways. In modern viticulture, this response is mediated by the rootstock genotype, which can induce tolerance rather than susceptibility to the scion.
Grape phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae Fitch) is a major insect pest that has had devastating effects in grape-growing regions worldwide. As a result, using phylloxera-resistant rootstocks is a key component of modern vineyard management.
Resistance to phylloxera (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae) is the most important trait in grapevine rootstock breeding. Up to now, there are eight quantitative trait loci (QTL) described mediating resistance on roots or leaves. In order to understand the genetic basis of one of these genetic loci, the genome of the resistance donor ‘Börner’ was sequenced and the genomic region of the Rdv1 locus analyzed.
Soil salinity is an increasingly critical challenge for grapevine production, particularly in Mediterranean climates like California. Chloride (Cl-) accumulation, in particular, severely impacts vine growth, productivity, and fruit quality.
Grape phylloxera (GP) (Daktulosphaira vitifoliae Fitch, 1855) devastated European vineyards in the 19th century by attacking Vitis vinifera roots. Today, grafting onto resistant American rootstocks remains its primary control strategy, but GP continues to threaten non-grafted vineyards, prompting the search for alternative control solutions.
Rootstocks continue to serve as the first line of defence against phylloxera in viticulture; however, to mitigate the impacts of climate change, future viticulture will require novel, improved rootstock varieties. As conventional rootstock breeding is extremely time-consuming, modern genomics-assisted approaches are urgently needed.
150 years ago grafting was identified as the most efficient method to combat phylloxera, this stimulated the active breeding of grapevine rootstocks and provided numerous rootstocks that are still in use today. Since then and over the 20th century, only a few new genotypes were been released.