Background/Objectives: Lebanon, one of the oldest centers of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivation, is home to a rich diversity of local grape varieties. This biodiversity is linked to the country’s unique topography and millennia of cultural history. However, the wine industry primarily utilizes international varieties, putting many local varieties at risk of extinction. Methods: In this study, we analyzed 202 samples from old vineyards, home gardens, and private collections using 21 microsatellite markers to assess their identity and genetic diversity. Results: A total of 67 different genotypes were identified, with 34 not matching any existing profiles in the consulted databases, based on comparisons with the European Vitis Database, the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC), and the databases established in two previous studies conducted in Armenia and Lebanon. Cluster analyses revealed Lebanon’s rich diversity of local grape varieties, highlighting cases of synonymy, homonymy, and misnaming. All loci were polymorphic, with 228 alleles and an average of 11.4 alleles being detected. The highest number of alleles was observed at the VVIV67 locus (19 alleles), while the lowest was found at the VVIQ52 and VVIN73 loci (5 alleles). The observed heterozygosity was 0.732, slightly below the expected value of 0.757, with gene diversity varying among the markers. Conclusions: Of the 67 genetic profiles identified, 34 are absent from national and international databases, underscoring Lebanon as a hotspot for grapevine genetic diversity. This unique genetic variation, which includes several synonyms due to geographic isolation, could provide valuable opportunities for producing distinctive wines and emphasizes the need for further research and documentation.

Vitis vinifera L. has been present in Ibiza and Formentera, two islands of the Balearic Islands (Spain), since the 7th century BC. In the past few years, there have been several studies and investigations on the Balearic Islands. These have focused mainly on Mallorca and Menorca with a small representation of Ibiza and none that take into account Formentera. This research aims to contribute to the knowledge of Vitis cultivars cultivated on those islands and to investigate whether there are local cultivars still being grown. To do this, using an ethnobotanical approach, 15 persons were interviewed to gather information about local grapevines, and 36 accessions from 12 plots were characterized using ampelographic descriptors and identified using SSR markers. Relationships of the accessions studied with other cultivars were also assessed. The results show 21 different genotypes profiles, where six were new genotypes: ‘Colló de gall’, ‘Grec’, ‘Maçanet’, ‘VIEIV015-Maçanet’, ‘Morzacà’, and ‘Vermelleta’. Ten new synonyms and three homonyms have been proposed. Additionally, we suggest three new relationships for the ‘Hebén’ cultivar, one new relationship for the ‘Llora’ cultivar and one new relationship for the ‘Beba’ cultivar. These results show the first reported information for Ibiza and Formentera on Vitis.

Morphological evaluation of large progenies is a problem in plant breeding programs, because of the need for skilled labor capable of characterizing various descriptors in a large number of individuals ripening simultaneously. In addition, the maintenance of progenies in the field for evaluation involves an unsustainable consumption of resources that could be reduced. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) offers the possibility of accelerating the process with the consequent saving of resources. The aim of this work is to propose a methodology that minimizes the phenotyping work for thousands of individuals of these breeding programs. The methodology consists of analyzing the complete progeny with a limited number of markers (27 SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat)) and a reduced description of morphological characters on a so-called training collection (27 individuals) obtained with Mstrat software. With this strategy, it was possible to estimate traits such as berry skin color or seedlessness in a progeny of more than 2000 individuals with a probability of 90%, and to discard 50% of individuals without muscat linked alleles.

Background and Aims. Vitis vinifera L. is a major global horticulture crop which holds historical connections contributing to the development of human culture. The main objective of the study was to explore the genetic diversity and structure of grapes curated at the germplasm bank of Aragón and link them to cultivar utilization, putative geographic origin, and historical events. Methods and Results. The genetic diversity of the 411 accessions of the Grapevine Germplasm Bank was assessed using 26 SSR markers. SSR markers VVIP31, VMC4F3-1, VVIV67, and VVS2 distinguished the 156 nonredundant genotypes found in the collection. The profiles were compared to the El Encin database, and 105 were identified as known cultivars, of which 93 were Spanish, 12 were from other European origins, and 51 others were not known. The 51 profiles, as they were all collected in Spain, were designated as Spanish unknown for further analysis. To establish a comparative study for principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and structure, we kept 113 identified genotypes from this collection but added 61 representative genotypes with diverse European and oriental origins. Bayesian analysis and PCoA showed four distinct groups of grape cultivars: (1) traditional Spanish wine grape from Aragón or cultivated along the Ebro River, (2) Spanish wine grape, (3) Spanish and oriental table grape, and (4) Italian, Portuguese, French, and German-Slovenian wine grape varieties. Conclusions. The 51 unknown Spanish genotypes were not registered yet in any European commercial list and are of special interest. These genotypes could be ancient cultivars adapted to local climatic and environmental conditions and probably resilient to face the new conditions derived from climate change.

Grapes are important sources of phenolic compounds, which have multiple beneficial effects on human health. Scientific advances in the field of genetics have allowed the production of seedless table grape varieties, which are highly demanded by consumers because of their nutritional value and their easy consumption. In this study, total phenolic content (TPC), radical scavenging activity (RSA) and total anthocyanin content (TAC), were determined in 65 seedless table grape varieties (41 experimental and 24 commercial varieties). Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to an ion-trap mass spectrometry detector (UHPLC-IT-MS/MS) was used to identify and quantify some phenolic acids, flavan-3-ols, flavonols and stilbenes in 14 experimental varieties. TPC ranged from 17 to 250 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g fresh weight (FW), RSA ranged from 15 to 269 mg Trolox equivalents/100 g FW and TAC ranged from 0 to 168 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/100 g FW. The RSA assay showed high correlation (R2 = 0.90) between the TPC and the antioxidant activity of the 65 seedless table grapes analyzed. In the vast majority of the new experimental varieties analyzed, the TPC and TAC were similar to those of some common table grapes with seeds, indicating promising perspectives for their commercialization as potential sources of these bioactive compounds. In 6 grape varieties, high concentrations of catechin, procyanidin B2, epicatechin, quercetin 3-β-d-glucoside, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, caftaric acid and rutin were found, which would indicate that the regular intake of these varieties would be highly recommended.

1 copy .pdf (2 Figs.- 1 Tabl.) from the original Poster of the authors. “Macrowine 2018” is a Conference specialized in the metabolites and macromolecules which make wine to be a magic product. From this starting point, this 2018 edition addressed how science can help in making better, safer, healthier and more stable and diverse wines in a context strongly restricted by Climate Change. More concrete goals are making more acceptable, balanced and flavor-rich wines, richer in antioxidants and bioactive molecules, minimizing SO2 while improving stability, and producing smaller levels of alcohol. Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Grapevine is a very important crop species that is mainly cultivated worldwide for fruits, wine and juice. Identification of the genetic bases of performance traits through association mapping studies requires a precise knowledge of the available diversity and how this diversity is structured and varies across the whole genome. An 18k SNP genotyping array was evaluated on a panel of Vitis vinifera cultivars and we obtained a data set with no missing values for a total of 10207 SNPs and 783 different genotypes. The average inter-SNP spacing was ~47 kbp, the mean minor allele frequency (MAF) was 0.23 and the genetic diversity in the sample was high (He = 0.32). Fourteen SNPs, chosen from those with the highest MAF values, were sufficient to identify each genotype in the sample. Parentage analysis revealed 118 full parentages and 490 parent-offspring duos, thus confirming the close pedigree relationships within the cultivated grapevine. Structure analyses also confirmed the main divisions due to an eastern-western gradient and human usage (table vs. wine). Using a multivariate approach, we refined the structure and identified a total of eight clusters. Both the genetic diversity (He, 0.26-0.32) and linkage disequilibrium (LD, 28.8-58.2 kbp) varied between clusters. Despite the short span LD, we also identified some non-recombining haplotype blocks that may complicate association mapping. Finally, we performed a genome-wide association study that confirmed previous works and also identified new regions for important performance traits such as acidity. Taken together, all the results contribute to a better knowledge of the genetics of the cultivated grapevine.

Background and AimsNumerous descriptions have been made of the wines produced in the past, however, the grapevine genotypes have been poorly recorded. Naming errors are also common, a problem that could negatively impact scientific work and cause economic damage to wine markets. The aim of the present work was to compare the accessions from Galicia and Asturias held in the Mision Biologica de Galicia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas and El Encin-Instituto Madrileno de Investigacion y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario collections in Spain in order to resolve synonyms, homonyms and naming errors in both. Materials and MethodsThe accessions of these collections were compared in terms of their leaf and bunch ampelographic characteristics, via simple sequence repeat analysis and via the examination of old photographs and other historic documentation. ResultsThe two collections were found to hold 59 distinct genotypes from the two regions. Ten were unique to the Mision Biologica de Galicia-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas collection and four to the El Encin-Instituto Madrileno de Investigacion y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario collection - rather fewer than expected. Traces of intra-genotype variation were seen for some genotypes. ConclusionsThe comparison of the accessions allowed some problems of genotype identity and origin to be identified and resolved. The possible intra-genotype variation detected should be examined in greater depth. The results also highlight the value of well documented live collections, gathered at different times and curated in different places, for this type of work, as well as in the conservation of world viticultural heritage. Significance of this StudyThese findings open up paths for future research on the material conserved, and its commercial exploitation.

Agraim a l'Institut Nacional d'Investigacio i 'Tecnologia Agraria i Alimentaria (INIA) i als fons FEDER el financament d'aquest treballa traves del projecte RF2012- 00027-C5-00.

Trabajo presentado en el 40th World Congress of Vine and Wine: Science and Economy, Culture and Education, celebrado en Sofia (Bulgaria), del 29 de mayo al 2 de junio (2017)

Background and Aims: Wild grapevine, considered the ancestor relative of cultivated vines, has a large gene pool that is currently endangered in Europe. These plants can contribute to improving adaptation capacity to stresses due to climate change. The aim of this study was to evaluate the key ampelographic traits to identify true wild individuals supporting the preservation and use of wild populations.Methods and Results: Prospections performed since 2002 enabled the inventory of 51 localities with wild grapevines, most of which were located along Spanish riverbank forests. A morphological study of 192 individuals grafted in the grapevine collection of El Encin (Alcal de Henares, Spain) was carried out ex situ, and results were compared with data from 182 Spanish commercial cultivars grown in the same collection. Wild individuals presented morphological differences with cultivars, but only a few significant differences were found within wild individuals when comparing their geographic origin and plant sex. Ten morphological traits were relevant to discriminate wild and cultivated specimens.Conclusions: Ampelography, supported by previous molecular screening, is recommended to identify wild grape plants, although it is not advisable to establish relationships among wild genotypes by geographical location or gender.Significance of the Study: Results are expected to contribute to improved discovery, preservation and use of this important phytogenetic resource.

Core collections are nowadays widely employed in diverse studies on plant genetics. The more extensively used method to build core collections (maximization strategy) is based on the selection, from a global collection, of those accessions which maximize the number of different alleles and phenotypic classes (classes’ richness). However, different core collections should be created for different types of studies, and though several years ago most of core collections were developed to make the characterization and use of germplasm collections easier with a smaller sample size, for either conservation or breeding purposes, today, they are widely employed for association studies that are broadly applied in plant genetic improvement. Following the M strategy, some alleles or phenotypic classes often appear in a very low frequency, which may reduce the power of the analysis, avoiding the detection of real associations (false negatives). In this work, we propose and evaluate a new way to build core collections using the maximization strategy in several sequential steps, to maximize the frequency of minority classes, thus increasing the statistical power of the association study.

30a reunion del Grupo de trabajo de Experimentacion en Viticultura y Econologia celebrada en la Estacion de fruticultura y bodega experimental de Zalla (Vizcaya), los dias 25 y 26 de marzo de 2015. -- Munoz Organero, G. et al.

The use of microsatellite markers in large-scale genetic studies is limited by its low throughput and high cost and labor requirements. Here, we provide a panel of 45 multiplex PCRs for fast and cost-efficient genome-wide fluorescence-based microsatellite analysis in grapevine. The developed multiplex PCRs panel (with up to 15-plex) enables the scoring of 270 loci covering all the grapevine genome (9 to 20 loci/chromosome) using only 45 PCRs and sequencer runs. The 45 multiplex PCRs were validated using a diverse grapevine collection of 207 accessions, selected to represent most of the cultivated Vitis vinifera genetic diversity. Particular attention was paid to quality control throughout the whole process (assay replication, null allele detection, ease of scoring). Genetic diversity summary statistics and features of electrophoretic profiles for each studied marker are provided, as are the genotypes of 25 common cultivars that could be used as references in other studies.