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Grapevine shoot morphology is widely studied for both ampelography and growing adaptation to environmental stresses. However, few is known concerning the relative contribution and interactions of the genotype and of the growing conditions to the vegetative growth. In this work, seven grapevine cultivars were studied in three geographically distant ampelographic collections to maximize the genotype and environment differences among samples. Phytomers were studied concerning the leaf area and the stem and petiole diameters and lengths. These measurements allowed the calculation of derivative parameters to describe the proportions among elements. Despite most of the studied parameters significantly discriminated both factors (cultivar and growing conditions), it was possible to identify, for each one of them, the most promising parameters based on their relative variance explanation. In fact, a negative correlation was observed between the roles of genotype and environment among the studied parameters. The low interaction effect suggested a stability in the plant behaviors, confirming the possibility to use vegetative descriptions for both cultivar discrimination and growing conditions. Future studies will be performed to develop specific indexes based on the phenotypical variability of shoot morphology described here., VITIS - Journal of Grapevine Research, Vol. 60 No. 2 (2021): Vitis

Background: Magna Graecia is the ancient name for the modern geopolitical region of South Italy extensively populated by Greek colonizers, shown by archeological and historical evidence to be the oldest wine growing region of Italy, crucial for the spread of specialized viticulture around Mediterranean shores. Here, the genetic diversity of Magna Graecia grape germplasm was assessed and its role in grapevine propagation around the Mediterranean basin was underlined. Results: A large collection of grapevines from Magna Graecia was compared with germplasm from Georgia to the Iberian Peninsula using the 18 K SNP array. A high level of genetic diversity of the analyzed germplasm was determined; clustering, structure analysis and DAPC (Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components) highlighted the genetic relationships among genotypes from South Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean (Greece). Gene flow from east (Georgia) to west (Iberian Peninsula) was identified throughout the large number of detected admixed samples. Pedigree analysis showed a complex and well-structured network of first degree relationships, where the cultivars from Magna Graecia were mainly involved. Conclusions: This study provided evidence that Magna Graecia germplasm was shaped by historical events that occurred in the area due to the robust link between South Italian and Greek genotypes, as well as, by the availability of different thermal resources for cultivars growing in such different winegrowing areas. The uniqueness of this ampelographic platform was mainly an outcome of complex natural or human-driven crosses involving elite cultivars.

Background and Aims: Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the earliest domesticated crops, dating back 6000 years ago in the Near East before spreading into Europe. Despite the abundance of historical, archaeological and genetic records, until now secondary domestication events in European regions are not well demonstrated. Here, a genetic characterisation of grape germplasm from Calabria in Southern Italy, a crucial area of the Mediterranean Basin, aims to validate this area as a secondary centre of crop domestication. Methods and Results: True-to-type cultivar classification of 72 accessions was carried out by using microsatellite loci (simple sequence repeat) along with the main Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin ampelographic descriptors. The classification highlighted a high level of genetic diversity (He = 0.83) among native cultivars from Calabria. A decay of genetic diversity moving from southern Italy to north-western Mediterranean regions was observed, probably because of repeated founder effects during the grapevine expansion from the Mediterranean Basin to Europe. Single nucleotide polymorphism analysis showed an admixture genetic structure at K = 7, clarifying a complex network of pedigree relationships generated by crosses among cultivars. Parentage analysis underlined a high proportion of parent-offspring relationships (76%) in Mantonico Bianco and Pecorello, hypothesising their key role in the pedigree of many native cultivars from the southern Mediterranean area. Conclusion: Overall, our results appear to indicate a pivotal role of cultivars from Calabria in the grape genetic diversity of southern Italy. Furthermore, genetic analysis of grape wild accessions from Calabria should be of value in a discussion of a secondary centre of grape domestication. Significance of the Study: A large grape collection from Calabria was for the first time characterised through ampelographic and genetic analysis.

La durata e la produzione dei vigneti viene garantita con l'impianto di materiale di moltiplicazione di qualità. Il settore vivaistico è da tempo impegnato in questo programma mettendo sul mercato dei cloni (virus-esenti) che, oltre rispondere alle esigenze dei tecnici e dei viticoltori, sono indicati per la produzione di specifiche tipologie di vini. Questo risultato è connesso alla conoscenza delle piattaforme ampelografiche locali che ha permesso di individuare più biotipi nell'ambito della stessa popolazione, oltre che di produrre anche vini di nicchia. In particolare sono stati ottenuti o aggiunti cloni di vitigni diffusamente coltivati sul territorio nazionale, anche se a livello regionale, tipo Carricante, Grillo, Nebbiolo, Rebo, ... Traminer aromatico oppure presenti in ambienti ristretti come Alionza, Goldtraminer, Pignolo, Tazzalenghe,... Trebbiano modenese. Sono stati pure iscritti altri cloni di vitigni internazionali (es. Cannonau, Malbech, Syrah, Tempranillo, .. Trebbiano toscano) le cui peculiarità vanno individuate oltre nella minore dimensione del grappolo e dell'acino, nell'ottenimento di vini di maggiore struttura, quindi con possibilità di invecchiamento anche prolungato, anche nell'inferiore suscettività, rispetto alla popolazione, alle principali malattie crittogamiche pur garantendo produzioni soddisfacenti. L'aggiornamento del Catalogo nazionale dei cloni ha lo scopo di informare i potenziali utenti oltre che gli Enti operanti nel settore viticolo-enologico perché amplino le poche conoscenze disponibili. In ogni scheda descrittiva, corredata dalla foto del grappolo, sono riportate le principali caratteristiche vegeto-produttive e il giudizio organolettico del vino, con le potenziali destinazioni enologiche.

Updating of the clone catalogue Planting a vineyard with multiplication material of good quality is a guarantee of duration and productiveness. Therefore the vine nursery sector has been engaged in spreading selected material by putting on the market clones which, besides being free from virus diseases and having specific agronomic features, are also suitable for the production of specific types of wines. This result is linked to the knowledge of the local ampelographic platforms which has permitted to identify many biotypes in the same population thus increasing the value of the intravarietal variability. Recently some clones of cultivars widely cultivated on the national territory were registered in the National Register of Grapevine Varieties, although they are concentrated only in some regions such as Carricante, Grillo, Nebbiolo, Rebo, Traminer or concentrated only in small places such as Albarola, Alionza, Barsaglina,Goldtraminer, Pignolo, Tazzelenghe, Trebbiano Modenese. New clones of international cultivars (Cannonau, Malbech, Sangiovese, Syrah, Tempranillo, Trebbiano Toscano) have been registered too thanks to their improving features: in fact they have smaller clusters and smaller berries but at the same time they assure a satisfactory production, they give wines with a better structure and therefore they are suitable for long ageing and they are more resistant to vine diseases than the original population. We hereby present the updated descriptions of the clones which recently entered the National Register thus enabling the potential users and the companies which work in the vine-growing and oenological sector to enlarge their knowledge on the clones attitudes. In each file, we can find the picture of the cluster, the description of the vegeto-productive characteristics, the organoleptic judgment on the wine and suggestions for the potential oenological use.