Overview

"A Genomic Approach to the Identification of the Genetic & Environmental Components Underlying Berry Quality in Grapevine"

Grapevine is the most economically important fruit species in the world with more than 7.4 million hectares planted in vineyards. Grapes are produced for fruit, juice, raisins and are also the basis of high added value products, mainly wine and spirits. Grapevine is highly relevant for Spain which has more than 1.2 million hectares or approximately 1/7 of the world's total vineyard land mainly dedicate to wine production. Furthermore, with more than 50,000 hectares of table grape, Spain is the second largest European producer. Canada's economic interest in grape production lies in the production of high quality wines. Canada is the youngest wine-producing region in the world; however, the wine industry in Canada has developed rapidly over the past 10 years and seven thousand hectares are currently planted in wine grapes, mainly in Ontario and British Columbia (BC). Continued growth is projected for the Canadian wine industry over the next ten years.

The value of any table grape, grape juice, or wine product is fundamentally dependent on healthy, high quality fruit. Fruit quality depends on plant genotype as well as environmental variation and viticulture management practices. In spite of this high economic and social relevance and contrary to the general trend in annual crops, most improvements in grapevine and wine production are mainly based on technological developments in agronomic and oenological practices. Very little has been done at the molecular level to exploit genomic resources in the species. In fact the genetic determinants of fruit quality are practically unknown as well as their interaction with the environment.

Given the relevance of grapevine for Canada and Spain, both countries launched the GrapeGen project with the aim of characterize the genetic and molecular mechanisms responsible for berry quality. The goal will be achieved through the following objectives:

1. Establish genomic resources for gene, protein, and metabolite discovery associated with berry quality traits in V. vinifera.
2. Establish resources for functional analyses related to berry quality traits in V. vinifera.
3. Elucidate developmental and metabolic pathways underlying berry development and quality traits and predict how these pathways are modified by microclimate (diffuse sunlight versus shading) and common viticulture practices (for example, leaf thinning) as well as by genetic differences among grapevine cultivars.

The Project is expected to generate information and tools allowing an increased exploitation of the species biology both in its applications as table and wine grape. Specifically, the Project will develop: (a) resources for genetic and genomic research in grapevine; (b) technologies for furthering genomic research in grapevine; (c) diagnostic tools for improving viticulture practices; (d) molecular markers for table grape breeding and clonal selection; as well as (e) potential offshooting nutraceutical applications derived from gene discovery.

GrapeGen is funded through a collaborative agreement between Genoma España and Genome Canada. On the Spanish side, an investor group formed by the communities of Andalucía and Murcia through the Junta de Andalucía and Seneca Foundation respectively, and the companies Cajamar, ITUM (Investigación y Tecnología de Uva de Mesa) and Torremesa is supporting GrapeGen. The Spanish research activity is performed by six research teams belonging to IMIDA, Universities of Alicante and Murcia, University of Navarra, IMIDRA, Rancho de la Merced and the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología from CSIC, coordinated by Dr. Martínez Zapater at CNB- CSIC. Canadian research activity is performed by research teams at the University of British Columbia, Canada's Michael Smith Genome Sciences Center, the UVic-Genome BC Proteomics Centre and the Pacific Agri-food Research Centre, coordinated by Dr. Steven Lund at the UBC Wine Research Centre.