Improving water use efficiency (WUE) in grapevines is essential for vineyard sustainability under the increasing aridity induced by global climate change. WUE reflects the ratio between the carbon assimilated by photosynthesis and the water lost in transpiration. Maintaining stomata partially closed by regulated deficit irrigation or partial root drying represents an opportunity to increase WUE, although at the expense of decreased photosynthesis and, potentially, decreased yield. It would be even better to achieve increases in WUE by improving photosynthesis without increasing water loses. Although this is not yet possible, it could potentially be achieved by genetic engineering. This review presents current knowledge and relevant results that aim to improve WUE in grapevines by biotechnology and genetic engineering. The expected benefits of these manipulations on WUE of grapevines under water stress conditions are modelled. There are two main possible approaches to achieve this goal: (i) to improve CO2 diffusion to the sites of carboxylation without increasing stomatal conductance; and (ii) to improve the carboxylation efficiency of Ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). The first goal could be attained by increasing mesophyll conductance to CO2, which partly depends on aquaporins. The second approach could be achieved by replacing Rubisco from grapevine with Rubiscos from other C3 species with higher specificity for CO2. In summary, the physiological bases and future prospects for improving grape yield and WUE under drought are established.
The Eurasian winegrape Vitis vinifera has little or no genetic resistance to the major fungal pathogens, powdery mildew (Erysiphe necator) and downy mildew (Plasmopora viticola). These pathogens were first introduced into French vineyards from North America in the 1800s before spreading to all major grape producing regions of the world. As a result, grape production is highly dependent on the use of fungicides. With the increasing financial and environmental costs of chemical application and the emergence of fungicide-resistant strains, the introduction of natural genetic resistance against these fungal pathogens is a high priority for viticultural industries worldwide. We are utilising a number of different molecular approaches to increase our understanding of the basis of resistance to these important major fungal pathogens and to identify potential new sources of genetic resistance. This review will outline the progress and the potential of each of these different molecular strategies to the generation of fungalresistant grapevine germplasm. Abbreviations BAC bacterial artificial chromosome; BC back-cross; CC coiled-coil; CT C-terminal; LRR leucine-rich repeat; MAMP microbe-associated molecular pattern; NBS nucleotide-binding site; PEN penetration; RGA resistance gene analogue; RLK receptor-like kinase; Rpv1 Resistance to Plasmopora viticola 1; Run1 Resistance to Uncinula necator 1; TIR Toll/Interleukin-1 receptor
The rapidly increasing world population and the scarcity of suitable land for agricultural food production together with a changing climate will ultimately put pressure on grape‐producing areas for the use of land and the input of resources. For most grape‐producing areas, the predicted developments in climate will be identical to becoming more marginal for quality production and/or to be forced to improve resource management. This will have a pronounced impact on grapevine physiology, biochemistry and ultimately production methods. Research in the entire area of stress physiology, from the gene to the whole plant and vineyard level (including soils) will need to be expanded to aid in the mitigation of arising problems. In this review, we elaborate on some key issues in environmental stress physiology such as efficient water use to illustrate some of the challenges, current limitations and future possibilities of certain experimental techniques and/or data interpretations. Key regulatory mechanisms in the control of stomatal conductance are treated in some detail and several future research directions are outlined. Diverse physiological aspects such as the functional role of aquaporins, the importance of mesophyll conductance in leaf physiology, night‐time water use and respiration under environmental constraints are discussed. New developments for improved resource management (mainly water) such as the use of remote sensing and thermal imagery technologies are also reviewed. Specific cases where our experimental systems are limited or where research has been largely discontinued (i.e. stomatal patchiness) are treated and some promising new developments, such as the use of coupled structural functional models to assess for environmental stress effects on a whole‐plant or canopy level are outlined. Finally, the status quo and research challenges around the ‘CO2‐problem’ are presented, an area which is highly significant for the study of ‘the future’ of the grape and wine industry, but where substantial financial commitment is needed.
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