Dissimilar Responses of Ancient Grapevines Recovered in Navarra (Spain) to Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Terms of Berry Quality

Abstract

The exploitation of genetic diversity within agricultural plants, including grapevine, is suggested as a valuable tool to cope with the negative impacts of climate change on yield and crop quality. In some winegrowing regions of Europe, there is a renewed interest in knowing the grapevine genetic resources available, focusing on the prospection, recovery, and study of ancient cultivars typical of every zone. Grapevines are naturally associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), which provide some benefits to the host plant, although such effects depending on many factors, including variety. Therefore, the aim of this research was to characterize the potential fruit quality of eight old grapevine varieties recovered in Navarre (northeastern of the Iberian Peninsula), associated or not with AMF. The study was carried out on fruit-bearing cuttings grown under controlled conditions (greenhouse). Overall, AMF inoculation reduced bunch and berry mass, as well as phenolic content in fruits. In some varieties, AMF association improved some berry traits by increasing the concentrations of soluble solids and anthocyanins; in others, berry colour, total phenolic and anthocyanin content were diminished in AMF-inoculated plants. The results, therefore, suggest that intraspecific diversity of old grapevines could include different abilities to respond to arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

The Exploitation of Local Vitis vinifera L. Biodiversity as a Valuable Tool to Cope with Climate Change Maintaining Berry Quality

“…The adaption capacity of ancient grapevine varieties to climatic conditions has been suggested as a valuable tool to exploit the grapevine diversity in relation to traits that are impacted by climate change, such as phenology, the accumulation of sugars, organic acids, and phenolic compounds [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. The hypotheses raised in this study were: (i) the genotypes studied performed differently according to the parameters analyzed; (ii) the distinctive properties of each genotype can evolve differently in the new climate scenario.…”

“…Overall, EA and SM were little affected by the combination of elevated CO 2 and high temperature ( Table 4 ). However, under ECET treatment, EA increased in GRA72 and, especially in TV, indicating that the lower potential of color extraction of this genotype could get worse under ECET conditions ( Figure 3 ) [ 35 ]. The SM was a stable property that only increased in TV under ECET conditions but staying within the average values of the assessed genotypes.…”

“…This trend could be a valuable strategy to sustain higher genetic diversity, as well as product diversity in the markets. To this end, we have recently characterized the oenological potential of some ancient grapevine varieties under greenhouse conditions [ 35 ]. To learn more about some of these varieties, under the present study we undertook a characterization of their response to some climate change conditions, in terms of plant growth and fruit composition.…”

Strategies to Modulate Specialized Metabolism in Mediterranean Crops: From Molecular Aspects to Field

“…The levels of glucose and amino acids clearly increased in berries, which may affect the aromatic characteristics of wines, while the total amount and the profiles of anthocyanins and flavonols have not been strongly affected by the AM symbiosis [ 71 ]. Moreover, Antolin et al [ 69 ] evaluated the fruit quality of eight old grapevine varieties recovered in Navarre (northeastern of the Iberian Peninsula), colonized or not with AMFs. In some varieties, AM symbiosis improved berry traits by enhancing the concentrations of soluble solids and anthocyanins.…”

Space and Vine Cultivar Interact to Determine the Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Community Composition

“…As shown when associated with other plants, AM fungi provide multiple functions to grapes and therefore to vineyards that can help overcome current restrictions to their cultivation: They increase grape uptake of N [ 18 , 19 ], reduce soil Cu toxicity [ 20 ], improve plant drought resistance [ 21 ], and protect against pests [ 22 ] (but see [ 23 ]). Moreover, it has been suggested that the whole microbiome and, particularly, AM fungi can alter the biochemical composition of grapevines [ 24 , 25 ], which is a key factor in the commercial market of grapevine subproducts. Despite this importance, there are few studies addressing the composition of associated AM fungal communities with vineyards.…”