In Mediterranean-like climate areas, field-grown grapevines are typically exposed to severe environmental conditions during the summer season, which can negatively impact the sustainability of viticulture. Despite the short-term mitigation strategies available nowadays to cope with climate change, little is known regarding their effectiveness in different demarcated winegrowing regions with differing climate features. Hence, we applied a kaolin suspension (5 %) to Touriga-Franca (TF) and Touriga-Nacional (TN) grapevine varieties located in two Portuguese demarcated regions (Alentejo and Douro) with different mesoclimates to study its effect on the physiological performance, hormonal balance and ABA-related grapevine leaf gene expression during the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons. Data show that 2017 was warmer than 2018 due to the occurrence of two heatwaves in both locations, highlighting the protective effect of kaolin application under severe environmental conditions. In the first study year, at midday, kaolin enhanced water use efficiency (23 % in Douro and 13 % in Alentejo), carbon assimilation rates (PN; 72 % in Douro and 25 % in Alentejo), and the soluble sugar content of grapevine leaves, while decreasing the accumulation of plant growth regulators (ABA, IAA, and SA) during the ripening stage. The results show an up-regulation of ABA biosynthesis-related genes (VvNCED) in TF treated vines from the Douro vineyard mainly in 2017, suggesting an increased stress response under severe summer conditions. Additionally, kaolin triggered the expression of ABA-responsive genes (VvHVA22a and VvSnRK2.6) mainly in TF, indicating different varietal responses to kaolin application under fluctuating periods of summer stress.

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At a local scale, kaolin particle-film technology is considered a short-term adaptation strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming on viticulture. This study aims to evaluate kaolin application effects on photochemistry and related defence responses of Touriga Franca (TF) and Touriga Nacional (TN) grapevines planted at two Portuguese winegrowing regions (Douro and Alentejo) over two summer seasons (2017 and 2018). For this purpose, chlorophyll a fluorescence transient analysis, leaf temperature, foliar metabolites, and the expression of genes related to heat stress (VvHSP70) and stress tolerance (VvWRKY18) were analysed. Kaolin application had an inhibitory effect on VvHSP70 expression, reinforcing its protective role against heat stress. However, VvWRKY18 gene expression and foliar metabolites accumulation revealed lower gene expression in TN-treated leaves and higher in TF at Alentejo, while lipid peroxidation levels decreased in both treated varieties and regions. The positive kaolin effect on the performance index parameter (PIABS) increased at ripening, mainly in TN, suggesting that stress responses can differ among varieties, depending on the initial acclimation to kaolin treatment. Moreover, changes on chlorophyll fluorescence transient analysis were more pronounced at the Douro site in 2017, indicating higher stress severity and impacts at this site, which boosted kaolin efficiency in alleviating summer stress. Under applied contexts, kaolin application can be considered a promising practice to minimise summer stress impacts in grapevines grown in Mediterranean-like climate regions.

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