Research

Winegrape production is one of the most economically important agrosystems in Europe. Grapevine has a large breadth of genetic diversity at the rootstock, variety, and clone levels. Unfortunately, very little of this diversity is currently utilized and its potential role in abiotic stress response has not been properly quantified. This leaves growers with the open-question of which is the best tool(s) to adapt their vineyards to specific environmental challenges (e.g. heatwaves, drought, waterlogging, etc). At the scientific level, it is essential to understand the genetic plasticity of rootstocks, varieties and clones (and their interactions) to further adapt and improve the current planting material and to preserve the genetic diversity of grape varieties used across Europe. Standards for physiological traits need to be defined, and the influence of the diverse genetic backgrounds to the value and flexibility of these traits under different environmental conditions needs to be understood. With this in mind, project DiverGrape has been designed including partners from four European countries with varying environmental and vineyard conditions. The partnership will exchange pre-doctoral and postdoc researchers using a standardized methodological approach based on both eco-physiology and metabolomics tools to quantify the contribution to environmental response of: i) clonal variation within given local varieties, ii) rootstock material for a given variety and ii) the interaction between rootstock and scion. Taking advantage of existing vineyards with a variety of genetic material located in different European viticulture areas, the partnership will quantify how environment drives grapevine plasticity to specific climates. The results obtained through project DiverGrape will provide grape growers with the knowledge to optimize the existing grapevine genetic diversity in order to adapt their vineyards to more extreme climate situations.

The project aims to reveal the possible mechanisms of stress reduction in plants by zeolite clinoptilolite (the most abundant natural occurring zeolite) observed by empirical data. The central hypothesis of the project is that the fine zeolite clinoptilolite particles when sprayed onto the plant leaf surface form a light particle film, that is able to maintain leaves cooler (light colour reflecting radiation) and reduce heat stress, while aiding the plant's stomata to optimally gain carbon for photosynthesis (i.e., increased water use efficiency). By setting an experiment under controlled conditions, the project aim to fully understand the mode of action of the zeolite clinoptilolite in order to develop concrete application recommendations for farmers for the specific problem of heat and drought stress in viticulture. Considering all the above, the project will (i) generate an understanding of natural zeolite´s (clinoptilolite) mode of action on grapevines leaves under drought (ii) determine the clinoptilolite application impact on grapevine ecophysiology under environmental controlled conditions (iii) determine the clinoptilolite capacity to improve grapevine performance under drought (iv) clarify the possible mechanisms involved in the stress relief capacity of clinoptilolite when applied on grapevine leaves under drought (v) assess the eventual capacity of zeolite in aiding grapevine functionality recovery after drought To do so, the project will setup an experiment under greenhouse-controlled conditions on potted grapevines to impose drought on plants previously treated with clinoptilolite or not. The experiment will encompass the entire grapevine growing cycle (ca. 6 months) and a frequent monitoring of eco-physiology parameters such as the rate of gas exchange, PSII photochemistry efficiency, and plant water status.

The project aims to promote and aggregate Innovative Solutions (IS) focussed on the participative development of fruit varieties and on a fruit plant production system dedicated to the organic farming system. In order to optimize the overall system, key elements will be analysed: (i) actors, the nursery plant propagation sector and evaluation systems and the research outcomes to highlight the already available IS, bottlenecks and success factors in organic farming and access multi-actor shared ideotypes, (ii) evaluation tools, methods, selection procedures and social non-technological solutions for targeting the cultivars better adapted to OF (organic framing) through the definition of both European varieties and rootstocks testing protocols for screening varieties which are better adapted to OF and setting up an European Network of actors active in OF varieties and rootstocks testing (so-called OF-Variety Testing Network (OF-VTN)), (iii) the available Fruit-Tree Genetic Resources (FTGR), historical evaluation data and their consistency for fitting with our objectives, (iv) the possibilities offered by dedicated pre-breeding and breeding programmes, and finally (v) the elaboration of adapted Fruit-tree propagation scheme in agreement with EU rules. Through a joined ‘Actor’ targeted approach, InnOBreed will evaluate, implement and aggregate IS to promote the Fruit Organic industry by the development and deployment of suitable cultivars. In that way InnOBreed will help the fruit industry to meet the consumers’ quality requirements while responding to market, environment and agriculture needs for the next years, keeping in mind the fruit-chain sustainability. InnOBreed will be dedicated to Fruit perennial species: IS will be addressed with the Innovation providers, applied research will be performed on model couples (multi-traits x species) qualified as case studies for addressing the existing bottlenecks and seminars will be dedicated to translational approaches, training and transfers.