PIWI
Scientific Responsable :Professor Margherita Lucchin, DAFNAE | margherita.lucchin@unipd.it
Starting dates: May 2022 – April 2023
Project description (English)
The ‘PIWI’ vines, from the German pilzwiderstandfähig, which means “fungus-resistant vines”, represent today an interesting opportunity to reduce the use of pesticides in viticulture. In fact, these are varieties obtained through hybridization programs that have introduced resistance genes into elite grapevine varieties. From the point of view of the characteristics of the grapes, it should be emphasized that the biochemical mechanisms produced by the expression of resistance genes are little known. Crossing of V. vinifera varieties with resistant lines could result in an increased presence of pathogenesis-related proteins (PR-proteins) and other proteins in the berries of PIWI varieties. The research aims to evaluate any differences between resistant PIWI vines and their “noble” parents at the level of (i) gene expression and (ii) compositional characteristics of the grape, with particular reference to proteins, iii) oenological performance.