Biotech and new breeding technologies: the state-of-the-art and prospects for grapevine improvement

The manipulation of the genetic basis controlling grapevine adaptation and phenotypic plasticity can be performed either by classical genetics or biotechnologies. In the last 15 years, considerable knowledge has accumulated about the grapevine genome as well as the mechanisms involved in the interaction of the vine with the environment, pests and diseases. Despite the difficulties associated with genetic mapping in this species (allele diversity, chimerism, long generation intervals...), several major QTLs controlling important vegetative or reproductive traits, i.e. resistance to diseases have been identified. Considering the huge genotypic and phenotypic diversities existing in Vitis, breeding offers a substantial range of options to improve the performances of cultivars. However, even if marker-assisted selection was largely developed to shorten breeding programs, the selection of improved cultivars, whether for agronomic traits or disease tolerances, is still long and uncertain. Moreover, breeding by crossing breaks the cultivar structure with the wine industry and market still based on varietal wines. In grapevine, pioneering biotechnologies were set up in the 60's to propagate and/or clean the material from microorganisms. In the 90's, the basis of genetic engineering were primary established through biolistic or Agrobacterium with several deriving technologies that were refined in the last 10 years. The lastest advance is represented by a group of technologies based on genome editing which allows a much more precise modification of the genome. These technologies, so-called NBT (new breeding technologies), which doesn't deconstruct the phenotype of the improved cultivar, could be potentially better accepted by the industry and consumers than GMO. This communication will review the current state-of-the- art of the biotechnologies available for grapevine and future prospects for genetic improvement.