Genetic basis of salt exclusion in grapevine

Background

Photo: D-T. Pham

Soil salinity costs the Australian grape and wine industry ~$60M pa in lost yield.  Salt accumulation in berries also reduces wine quality, with wine from many Australian regions susceptible to exceeding legal limits for sodium and chloride ions leading to wastage.

Objectives/aims

This project will identify genes from Vitis spp. rootstocks, that confer salt exclusion in the grapes of grafted V. vinifera scions, to accelerate the selection of rootstocks specifically designed for production in Australian conditions.  Genes identified by genotyping-by-sequencing of the progeny of crosses between salt-including and salt-excluding rootstocks, will undergo molecular and physiological characterisation.  Marker-based prediction of salt exclusion will be confirmed in further germplasm and used to generate crosses of new rootstock material to test and commercialise via local nurseries.

Industry partners