Genetius

In a trial of ten grapevine rootstock genotypes grafted to two scions, the authors found that vine compartment (berries vs roots) strongly determines elemental composition, while rootstock genotype has only minor effects. The rhizosphere microbiome was largely conserved across genotypes, yet specific taxa such as Streptomyces and Mesorhizobium showed significant negative correlations with a principal component of several key elements. These results suggest potential microbe‑element interactions influencing nutrient dynamics in grapevine roots.

The study presents a phased diploid reference genome for the grape cultivar Pinot noir and integrates Nanopore sequencing of 23 clones to map clonal genetic and epigenetic variation in Vitis vinifera. While somatic SNPs and structural variants are rare and under purifying selection, CG methylation differences are abundant, gene‑body enriched, and reliably recapitulate clonal phylogenies, indicating mitotically inherited epialleles record propagation history.

The study uses a process‑based model to predict bud cold hardiness for three grapevine varieties (Vitis vinifera Cabernet‑Sauvignon, Riesling, and V. hybrid Concord) across eight North American and European locations, then derives budbreak timing from these predictions. Despite not being trained on budbreak data, the model accurately forecasts budbreak dates (RMSE≈7.3 days) and reveals that warming can either advance or delay budbreak depending on mean dormant season temperature. The approach highlights cold‑hardiness dynamics as a valuable addition to phenological modeling throughout the dormant season.

The study evaluated the effects of inoculating two grapevine rootstocks (41B and SO4) with the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis under moderate to severe water deficit. Mycorrhizal colonization enhanced growth, photosynthetic performance, and phosphorus nutrition, with genotype‑specific differences in aquaporin expression and overall mineral benefits, suggesting potential for improving drought‑sensitive rootstocks.

Using a common‑garden experiment with 46 Vitis vinifera cultivars, the authors showed that cultivar‑specific leaf gas‑exchange traits and water‑use strategies, rather than xylem anatomy, drive variation in susceptibility to the vascular disease esca. Symptomatic vines exhibited reduced gas exchange, stem starch, and theoretical hydraulic conductivity irrespective of genotype, while microbial communities remained unchanged but highly susceptible cultivars accumulated more glycosylated flavonoids and terpenes. These findings highlight the role of physiological water‑use traits and xylem‑transported defence metabolites in esca susceptibility.

The study examined 23 Vitis vinifera cultivars to link wood biochemical traits, endophytic microbes, and fungal pathogen traits with susceptibility to Esca disease. Susceptible cultivars showed greater white‑rot necrosis, higher hemicellulose, lower extractives, and increased glycosylated phenylpropanoids, while the diversity and composition of microbial communities in healthy wood were unchanged. These results indicate that wood degradability and metabolic responses, rather than microbial community structure, drive Esca susceptibility.

The study generated time‑resolved transcriptomes from grapevine genotypes carrying single, double, or triple Rpv resistance loci to examine how pyramiding affects early immune responses to Plasmopara viticola. Multilocus lines displayed baseline transcriptional differences and non‑additive network re‑structuring, with distinct temporal expression patterns in recognition, signaling, and defense genes. These findings reveal that stacking resistance loci alters the timing, connectivity, and layer allocation of immune‑related transcriptional programs.

Overexpressing the hexose transporter VvHT5 in Vitis vinifera increases leaf sugar uptake and markedly heightens susceptibility to the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea, contrary to its defensive role in Arabidopsis. Dual RNA‑seq reveals that VvHT5 overexpression reprograms host metabolism toward carbohydrate processing and dampens defense, while simultaneously inducing fungal genes for sugar acquisition and virulence. The study underscores that sugar‑mediated plant‑pathogen interactions are highly dependent on the host context.

A meta‑transcriptomic analysis of Vitis vinifera cultivars and two hybrid rootstocks identified a core set of 4,617 genes consistently responsive to drought, which were used to build machine‑learning‑derived gene regulatory networks. Key transcription factors such as ABF2, MYB30A, and an uncharacterized HMG‑box protein emerged as central regulators, revealing a hierarchical network architecture that underlies drought tolerance. These results provide candidate regulators for breeding and biotechnological strategies to improve grapevine resilience to water deficit.

The study evaluated high‑throughput reflectance spectroscopy combined with partial least squares regression to estimate intraspecific variation in 12 functional traits across 12 wine grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera). Significant differences were detected, especially in photosynthetic and hydraulic traits, and spectroscopy reliably captured fine‑scale variation in leaf chemical and morphological traits, demonstrating its utility for detailed trait assessment in agroecosystems.