Microbial diversity of Syrah grapes cultivated for winter wine production in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract

Microorganisms play a key role in determining the terroir of any region where vineyards are cultivated, influencing the characteristics of the wine produced in that region. This study aimed to determine the mycobiota terroir of Syrah grapes from subtropical vineyards of southern Minas Gerais, Brazil, using independent cultivation methods. Total DNA was extracted from the grapes and internal transcribed spacer/rRNA regions were sequenced. Taxonomic profiles were obtained at the kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species levels. The results showed a predominance of the phylum Ascomycota, followed by Basidiomycota. A phylogenetic tree was also constructed with the top 20 species of fungi present in the grapes, mainly represented by the genera Cercospora, Uwebraunia, Aureobasidium, Leptospora, Pseudopithomyces, Periconia, Acrocalymma, Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Hansfordia, Meyerozyma, Candida, Wickerhamomyces, Acremonium, Sarocladium, Gibberella, and Colletotrichum. The fungal diversity of the grapes was successfully characterized, but many individuals were not classified, indicating that future studies should be performed to better understand the profile of the species found, as well as their functions in this system.