Vitis vinifera L. Diversity for Cations and Acidity Is Suitable for Breeding Fruits Coping With Climate Warming.

The selection of grapevine varieties is considered to be the smartest strategy for adapting the viticulture to climate warming. Present knowledge of the diversity of grape solutes known to be influenced by temperature is too limited to perform genetic improvement strategies. This study aimed to characterize the diversity for major cations (K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NH4 +) of the Vitis vinifera fruit and their effect on acidity. Two developmental stages were targeted: the end of green growth, when organic acids reach a maximum, and the physiological ripe stage defined by the stopping of solutes and water import at the maximum volume of the berry. Twelve varieties and 21 microvines from the same segregating population were selected from preliminary phenotyping. The concentration of cations depended on the stage of fruit development, the genotype and the environment with GxE effects. In the ripe grape, K+ concentration varied from 28 to 57 mmol.L-1 with other cations being less concentrated. Combined with the variation in organic acids, cation concentration diversity resulted in titratable acidity of the ripe fruit ranging from 38 to 215 meq.L-1. These results open new perspectives for the selection of varieties to mitigate the adverse effects of climate warming on grape quality.

Vitis vinifera L. Fruit Diversity to Breed Varieties Anticipating Climate Changes.

The wine industry is facing critical issues due to climate changes since production is established on very tight Genotype × Environment interaction bases. While, some cultivation practices may reduce adverse effects of abiotic stresses on the vines, e.g., the use of irrigation to mitigate drought, the deleterious impacts of warming on fruit development are difficult to manage. Elevated temperature alters grapevine fruit growth and composition, with a critical increase of the sugars/organic acids ratio. Select grapes with improved metabolite balances to offset high temperature effects is a valuable option to sustain viticulture. Unfortunately, the lack of knowledge about the genetic diversity for fruit traits impacted by temperature impairs the design of breeding programs. This study aimed to assess the variation in berry volume, main sugars and organic acids amounts in genetic resources. Fruit phenotyping focused on two critical stages of development: the end of green lag phase when organic acidity reaches its maximum, and the ripe stage when sugar unloading and water uptake stop. For that purpose, we studied a panel of 33 genotypes, including 12 grapevine varieties and 21 microvine offspring. To determine the date of sampling for each critical stage, fruit texture and growth were carefully monitored. Analyses at both stages revealed large phenotypic variation for malic and tartaric acids, as well as for sugars and berry size. At ripe stage, fruit fresh weight ranged from 1.04 to 5.25 g and sugar concentration from 751 to 1353 mmol.L-1. The content in organic acids varied both in quantity (from 80 to 361 meq.L-1) and in composition, with malic to tartaric acid ratio ranging from 0.13 to 3.62. At the inter-genotypic level, data showed no link between berry growth and osmoticum accumulation per fruit unit, suggesting that berry water uptake is not dependent only on fruit osmotic potential. Diversity among varieties for berry size, sugar accumulation and malic to tartaric acid ratio could be exploited through cross-breeding. This provides interesting prospects for improving grapevine to mitigate some adverse effects of climate warming on grapevine fruit volume and quality.