Genomics

Osmotic stress in grapevine

The identification and characterisation of stress tolerance-conferring genes is a first step towards understanding the molecular basis of the tolerance mechanism. It is also a necessary prerequisite for the development of novel strategies to improve susceptible élite varieties which cannot be achieved by classical breeding within a reasonable period of time.

Drought and salinisation are two well-known environmental threats that are becoming increasingly important worldwide and, in particular, for Mediterranean agriculture. It is therefore important to identify existing molecular strategies to cope with such stresses in order to be prepared to use them to improve recent agricultural crops. Vitis vinifera varieties differ with respect to their ability to withstand long-term salt and drought stress. While robust varieties are not significantly affected by adverse growth conditions, standard élite cultivars encounter difficulties. Which gene(s) that contribute to abiotic stress tolerance are missing in sensitive cultivars or which have altered properties or are not subject to appropriate regulation?

In order to identify stress-associated genes we use cDNA cloning techniques, and particularly subtractive cloning strategies to prepare cDNA libraries, which are screened for differentially expressed cDNAs in leaves and roots of stress-tolerant Mediterranean grapevine. Candidate cDNAs have to be verified by correlating the expression level under control and stress conditions using a range of stress-tolerant and stress-susceptible varieties.

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