Genetius

A field trial of ten grapevine rootstock genotypes grafted to two scion varieties revealed that vine compartment (berry vs. root) primarily determines elemental composition, while rootstock genotype has modest effects. The rhizosphere microbiome was largely conserved across genotypes, but taxa such as Streptomyces and Mesorhizobium showed negative correlations with a mineral profile dominated by molybdenum, cadmium, potassium, and iron, indicating specific microbe‑element associations.

The study generated a high-quality, phased diploid reference genome for the grapevine cultivar Pinot noir and combined it with Oxford Nanopore sequencing of 23 clones to map genome-wide genetic and epigenetic variation. While somatic SNPs and structural variants are rare and depleted from coding regions, extensive CG methylation differences were found within gene bodies and accurately recapitulated clonal phylogenies, indicating stable, mitotically inherited epialleles that record propagation history.

The study applied a process‑based model to predict bud cold hardiness for three grapevine varieties using historical temperature data from eight locations, and derived budbreak timing from modeled hardiness thresholds. Although the model was not trained on budbreak observations, it accurately forecasted budbreak dates (RMSE ≈ 7.3 days) and captured how mean dormant‑season temperature influences freeze‑damage risk and phenology under warming scenarios.

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, finding that mycorrhization improved growth, photosynthetic performance, and phosphorus uptake, especially in the more drought‑sensitive SO4. However, aquaporin VvPIP2.1 expression responded oppositely between the rootstocks, highlighting genotype‑dependent nutritional and hydraulic outcomes of the symbiosis.

A common garden study of 46 Vitis vinifera cultivars revealed that cultivar-specific water-use traits, rather than xylem anatomy, predict susceptibility to esca disease. Symptomatic vines showed reduced leaf gas exchange, starch storage, and theoretical hydraulic conductivity, while highly susceptible genotypes accumulated more glycosylated flavonoids and terpenes, suggesting a role for xylem‑transported defence metabolites in disease onset.

The study generated time‑resolved transcriptomes (0, 6, 24 h post‑inoculation) from grapevine genotypes carrying single, double, or triple resistance loci against Plasmopara viticola and a susceptible control. Multilocus genotypes showed baseline transcriptional differences and distinct, non‑additive co‑expression network rewiring, with specific immune‑layer dynamics and rapid induction of transcription factors in the triple‑locus line. These findings reveal that pyramiding resistance loci alters the timing, connectivity, and layer allocation of immune‑related transcriptional programs.

Overexpression of the grapevine hexose transporter VvHT5 in two cultivars increased leaf sugar uptake and, upon Botrytis cinerea infection, led to larger lesions and greater fungal growth, revealing a susceptibility phenotype opposite to that seen in Arabidopsis. Dual RNA‑seq showed that VvHT5 overexpression reprograms host carbohydrate metabolism and dampens defense responses while stimulating fungal genes for sugar acquisition, highlighting host‑specific outcomes of sugar transporter activity in plant‑pathogen interactions.

The study performed a meta‑transcriptomic analysis of over twenty drought versus control experiments in Vitis vinifera and two hybrid rootstocks, identifying a core set of 4,617 drought‑responsive genes. Using transcription factor binding motif enrichment and random‑forest machine learning, gene regulatory networks were built, revealing key regulators such as ABF2, MYB30A, and a novel HMG‑box protein. These regulators and network hierarchies provide candidate targets for breeding and biotechnological improvement of grapevine drought tolerance.

The study evaluated whether leaf reflectance spectroscopy combined with partial least squares regression can detect intraspecific variation in 12 functional traits among 12 cultivars of wine grapes (Vitis vinifera). Significant differences, especially in photosynthetic and hydraulic traits, were captured by spectroscopy, demonstrating its viability for high‑throughput, fine‑scale trait estimation in agroecosystems.

The study evaluated grapevine offspring carrying single and pyramided Rpv1, Rpv3.1, and Rpv10 loci for resistance against a naive Plasmopara viticola strain and a strain virulent to Rpv10, using a high‑resolution phenotyping platform based on metabolic biomarkers. Results showed that the effectiveness of Rpv combinations and pathogen aggressiveness can be quantified early in infection and often predict sporulation, and that even defeated Rpv loci can contribute residual resistance when pyramided.