Identification and recovery of localVitis viniferaL. cultivars collected in ancient vineyards in different locations of Argentina

Abstract

Background and Aims: These last years, minor cultivars have gained attention as they provide an opportunity to offer original products in a global market and to combat global warming. Recent evidence brought to light the existing diversity within the group of autochthonous cultivars from Argentina and other South American countries, commonly known as criollas. The objective was to prospect, rescue and identify grapevine phenotypes recovered in ancient vineyards as putative criollas, in the western provinces of Argentina. Methods and Results: We collected 60 samples in 11 locations. Their identity and pedigree were analysed through nuclear simple sequence repeat (nSSR) markers. The 60 samples were grouped in 45 different genotypes, 19 of them corresponding to previously registered cultivars, while 26 were new genotypes, with no correspondence in international databases. The majority (18) of the 26 new genotypes were related with the criollas group while other genotypes presented a totally different genetic profile and its origin remains to be elucidated. Conclusions: The diversity within the South American cultivars is higher than previously thought. Ancient vineyards, located in isolated valleys, are reservoirs of minor cultivars, and growers have played a key role in maintaining and conserving them. Significance of the Study: This genetic diversity constitutes a valuable tool to explore alternatives for diversification and adaptation to climate change.

Genetic Characterization of Criolla and European Grapevines Recently Found in Chile: A Key Step for Their Rescue and Conservation

“…However, the size of the world database based on SSR markers and their wide use to characterize grapevine germplasm of diferent regions are good reasons to use this tool [14]. Although SSRs are less ubiquitous than SNPs in the genome, their informativeness (polymorphic content per marker), ease of analysis, affordable cost, and the possibility to compare our results with others of similar nature [7,18] in our case tipped the balance in its favor.…”

“…Tese markers are VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD25, VVMD27, VVMD28, VVMD32, VrZAG62, and VrZAG79. We also included the six most informative SSRs used by Aliquó et al [7] and Torres et al [18] in their study of Criolla materials from Argentina; these were VVMD21, VMC1b11, VVIp31, VVIh54, VVIq52, and VrZAG112 [21,22], and we determined them in a subset of alleged parents and new (NN) Criolla material. PCR and separation of SSR alleles were done as described [23].…”

“…Tat study also proposed parent-ofspring relationships for most of the studied accessions coming from diferent countries of the region. More recently, identity and parentage relationships were determined for several Criolla varieties present in Argentina [7,18]. We looked for not only previously undescribed Criolla present in Chile but also underrepresented European varieties from old vineyards.…”

Analysis of Wine-Producing Vitis vinifera L. Biotypes, Autochthonous to Crete (Greece), Employing Ampelographic and Microsatellite Markers

“…In Greece, traditionally ampelographic descriptors, which are based on the comparison of their morphology were used [ 4 , 5 ] until the discovery of DNA-based markers such as Random Amplified Length Polymorphism (RAPD [ 6 ]), Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR, [ 7 ]) and Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR, [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]). SSR markers have become the preferred markers for the standardization and analysis of genetic variation with regard to grapevine genetic resources, as numerous studies prove [ 2 , 3 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Studies use SSR in order to distinguish grape cultivars, for example, in Cyprus molecular genotyping analysis using 11 SSR markers allowed the accurate identification and discrimination of a set of autochthonous cultivars, clarifying their relationship with Greek, Bulgarian, and western European Vitis genetic material [ 13 ].…”

“…Other studies completing this scope can be also mentioned such as [ 17 ] where 411 accessions of the Grapevine Germplasm Bank were assessed using 26 SSR markers in Spain. SSRs remain the markers of choice in recent years, e.g., in 2022, in Argentina discrimination of cultivars was accomplished with SSR markers [ 18 ].…”