WP1: Effects of vineyards practices and environment on grapevine and berry in relation with climate change
Objectives
The objectives of WP1 are:
- To understand and model berry composition in relation with different natural environments, terroirs and under imposed stress conditions corresponding to expected changes in climate (combinations of CO2, drought, UV-light and temperatures)
- To study genotypic plasticity and variation in response to the same stresses and to vineyard practices
- To test vineyard management practices in view of tailoring berry quality.
Background
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Berry fresh weight and composition, which play a major role in shaping wine quality, are controlled by complex interactions between genotypes (rootstock/variety), environmental factors, and viticulture practices. These parameters all affect not only the mean value but also the ranges of variation in berry traits. Despite numerous studies comparing differences in the mean value of a berry trait among different environment conditions and viticulture practices, very little work has been devoted to explore their level of variation in response to those factors. Climate change results in increased temperatures, CO2 levels, UV irradiation, and in extending drought periods. Moreover, the ongoing climate change not only affects the physiology of grapevine but also modifies the variability level of berry traits (e.g yield) for a given cultivar. Recent advances in the physiology of berry growth and in modelling allow simulating fruit growth and sugar accumulation from the perspective of water and carbon balance. A process-based model shows promising ability to integrate physiological results and provides a full picture of the control of berry growth and content. In addition to carbon and water fluxes, which are presently taken into account in the model, nitrogen and sulfur fluxes, necessary for the synthesis of secondary metabolites important for quality should also be integrated in the future. Integration of genetic and molecular work with ecophysiological approaches in order to gain novel insights into the causes of variability in grape size and composition are also to be considered. WP1 will elaborate on these lines an improved model predicting the variations of assimilate distribution at the plant level, and the variations of berry composition in response to environmental parameters. The detailed modeling, biochemical, transcriptomic work performed along with new phenotyping methodologies established within this workpackage will provide tools and a scientific background for WP2, WP3 and WP4.
Work package leader
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Pr. Serge Delrot
Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II
210 Chemin de Leysotte, CS 50008
33882 Villenave d’Ornon
France
