Molecular identification of the grapevine "Goethe" from Urussanga (Sc) with microsatellite markers

‘Goethe’ grape is a symbol of the viticulture of Urussanga region, south of the state of Santa Catarina, which is currently claiming the geographical indication of the grape and wine Goethe. Microsatellite markers are the biotechnological tool most used for molecular identification of grapevine varieties worldwide. These markers have the potential of generate unique DNA profiles for all the diverse grape genotypes. The aim of this work was to characterize two selections of the grapevine ‘Goethe’ from Urussanga, using microsatellite markers. Genomic DNA was extracted from young leaves and branches of nine accessions of each selection “Goethe Clássica and ‘Goethe Primo’ maintained at one public and eight private collections of Urussanga. Ten microsatellite loci VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VrZAG62, VrZAG79, VVMD25, VVMD28, VVMD31 and VVMD32 were genotyped by capillary electrophoresis. Results showed that the two variants of ‘Goethe’ have an identical molecular profile which doesn’t match any other DNA profile of grapevines previously described in literature or available in databases. The phenotypic differences observed are probably due to somatic mutations in functional regions of the genome, a phenomenon which leads to the creation of clones in grape.