About us
PNGGI is a research project of the Research Center of the Istituto Agrario di S. Michele all'Adige (IASMA) and its partners. The research center is funded by the Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy.
The Grapevine Genome Initiative started with the goal of accelerating the breeding of a difficult perennial species. Grape breeding for disease resistance would be the solution for the emergence of aggressive races of microrganisms that can become epidemic in vineyards because of the massive use of agrochemicals. The problem is how to modify a complex and highly heterozygous genome without altering the quality of the grape end product, the wine. The precise knowledge of genes supporting quality and resistance traits is the basic research goal that will allow such applications.
A large number of genes related to disease–resistance (R genes) has been identified and 289 of them are tagged with one or more SNPs. In spite of the large complement of R genes, Pinot Noir, like all other Vitis vinifera varieties, is susceptible to several fungi, bacteria and viruses. The noted failure of this plant to trigger defense reactions is likely due to a defective pathogen recognition system. Indeed, V. vinifera resistance genes did not co-evolve in the presence of the most important grape pathogens. Allelic variation present in functional R domains has been associated with phenotypic divergence between resistant and susceptible genotypes only when susceptible V. vinifera and resistant non-vinifera clones were considered. In addition, the time necessary for grape to complete one generation, makes it difficult to match the evolutionary rates of microbial or insect pests.
This is why a deep knowledge of the grape genome is the starting point for developing genetic strategies to counter aggressive pathogens. Grape R genes are distributed along several LGs but also in clusters and superclusters. R gene clusters identified can be associated with known- or to be discovered-QTLs describing the resistance or tolerance behaviour of grape varieties. In addition, the fertility of the hybrids between wild and domesticated grapespecies with19 chromosomes is consistent with their putative genome collinearity. This provides a large and underexploited reservoir of R genes which can be easily moved in clusters across genomes by choosing appropriate molecular markers.
This approach can also help to keep under control important genomic regions responsible for grape and wine quality. The anchored sequence of the grape genome, together with the large arsenal of SNP loci, now offers a tool to open a new era in molecular breeding of grape.