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The article discusses the role of water availability in plant productivity and yield. It focuses on the measurement of leaf solute potential, which is an indicator of a plant's ability to adapt to heat and drought. The study specifically examines the seasonal changes in solute potential in grapevine cultivars and finds that the seasonal decrease in solute potential is more significant than the differences between cultivars or the response to drought. The findings suggest that solute accumulation is not solely a response to drought, but is also influenced by other factors such as leaf age and atmospheric conditions. The study highlights the importance of considering seasonal osmotic adjustment in improving water use efficiency and soil water conservation strategies. [Extracted from the article]

Water availability is arguably the most important environmental factor limiting crop growth and productivity. Erratic precipitation patterns and increased temperatures resulting from climate change will likely make drought events more frequent in many regions, increasing the demand on freshwater resources and creating major challenges for agriculture. Addressing these challenges through increased irrigation is not always a sustainable solution so there is a growing need to identify and/or breed drought-tolerant crop varieties in order to maintain sustainability in the context of climate change. Grapevine (Vitis vinifera), a major fruit crop of economic importance, has emerged as a model perennial fruit crop for the study of drought tolerance. This review synthesizes the most recent results on grapevine drought responses, the impact of water deficit on fruit yield and composition, and the identification of drought-tolerant varieties. Given the existing gaps in our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying grapevine drought responses, we aim to answer the following question: how can we move towards a more integrative definition of grapevine drought tolerance? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]