Plant genetic resources have sustained human societies throughout history. Through selection and propagation, humans have shaped plant gene pools to enhance productivity, local adaptation, and diversity of products across continents.
Viticulture became central to most western Mediterranean civilisations only a few millennia after grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) was domesticated in the South Caucasus and the Near East.
The USDAAgricultural Research Service maintains Vitis germplasm repositories in Geneva, NY and Davis, CAcollectively preserving approximately 5,000 unique accessions representing 30 Vitis species.
Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most extensively cultivated fruit trees in the world. It is cultivated primarily for wine production but also for fruit fresh consumption.
Vitis vinifera L. subsp. sylvestris is the wild ancestor of the European cultivated grapevine (V. vinifera L. subsp. sativa).
The onset of fruit ripening represents a major developmental transition characterized by extensive transcriptional and metabolic reprogramming that determines fruit texture, color, flavor, and aroma.
Modern viticulture relies predominantly on traditional European grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera) and is therefore heavily dependent on fungicide use to mitigate crop losses from downy (Plasmopara viticola)
While most cultivated grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.) possess perfect flowers, their wild ancestors were dioecious.
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.
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 (Vitis vinifera) is amongst the world’s most cultivated fruit crops, and of global and economic significance.
Black rot, caused by Phyllosticta ampelicida (Guignardia bidwellii), is a serious fungal disease in viticulture. Incidences increased in recent years due to reduced pesticide treatments, neglected phytosanitary measurements, and effects of climate change.
Plant microRNAs are small regulatory RNAs that control gene expression and play key roles in plant development and stress adaptation.
Understanding how grafts form has fascinated scientists for over a century, and numerous transcription factors (TFs) involved in wound healing, callus formation, and graft development have been identified in model plants.
To diversify production, vinegrowers select somatic variants in grape color that arise spontaneously during the propagation of cultivars.
Grapevine breeding is fundamentally constrained by long generation times, perennial growth and clonal propagation.