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A set of 493 old and local Spanish accessions of apple (Malus x domestica Borkh) maintained at three collections in Northeastern Spain was studied using 16 simple sequence repeats in order to estimate their genetic diversity and to identify the genetic structure and relationships among their accessions. An additional diverse set of 45 apple cultivars, including old Spanish and international cultivars, was added as reference. Genetic analyses performed by Bayesian model-based clustering revealed a very strong differentiation of two major groups. The first one clustered 159 individuals (52 % of unique genotypes) including local accessions and six old Spanish cultivars. The second major group was formed by 145 individuals, including 38 international reference cultivars and one old Spanish cultivar. Nested Bayesian clustering was applied to those two groups and two and four sub-groups were found at each one, respectively. The identification of private and unique alleles, and the remarkable differences in allelic richness among groups and sub-groups constitute further evidence of a clear genetic structure. The results obtained through the factorial correspondence and analyses of molecular variance confirmed those obtained by Bayesian analyses, revealing moderate but significant differentiation among the two major groups (F ST 00.076) and the six sub-groups (F ST 0 0.111). Our results highlight that the genetic diversity encompassed by currently cultivated apple accounts only for a small fraction of that existing within the species, and that an important part (≈60 %) of the local material analyzed constitutes a good example of genetic distinctness with respect to the main cultivars used in European orchards.

Precision viticulture has been applied to date mainly at the field level, for which the ability of high resolution data to match within-field variability has been already shown. However, to be fully operational, it should also be applicable at the whole-vineyard scale. The aim of this study was to analyze whether it is possible to use precision viticulture tools to define meaningful management zones at the whole-vineyard scale. Experiments were carried out in year 2008 on 90 ha planted of cv. Tempranillo from a vineyard with a total area of 140 ha in Spain. A three-level classification was established at both scales using NDVI, elevation and soil apparent conductivity data. The agronomic significance of these classes was tested comparing the vegetative growth, yield, carbon discrimination isotopic ratio and berry quality observed at each class. The analysis of high resolution information has been proved to be relevant in order to define whole vineyard classes with agronomic implications, the spatial variability of the vineyard being structured.

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