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Buttafuoco dell’Oltrepo’ Pavese (or Buttafuoco) is an important and renowned red wine, protected by a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) designation established in 2010, produced in the Northern Italy in the province of Pavia (Italy). The knowledge of factors as the typical microbial terroir and the metabolite composition of the wine is fundamental for producing excellent wines. In this work, two productions of Buttafuoco Storico dell’Oltrep`o Pavese were followed in order to assess the microbial populations through different stages of the wine production chain and the metabolomic composition of the final wines. Microbial terroir was investigated through a metagenomic analysis that revealed a wide microbial consortium which is, for the major taxonomic groups, affected by sampling time over location. Before the metagenomic analysis, being DNA extraction from wine a difficult task, two different approaches were compared for a precise quantification of microbial DNA (bacteria and yeast): digital and real time PCR. Obtained results clearly evidenced that digital PCR being was more sensitive than real time PCR and likely the method of choice for quantifying DNA extracted from processed matrices. Metabolomic profiling, focused on phenolic compounds, was able to clearly distinguish among vineyards and to highlight the presence of discriminating molecules that can be related to the different edaphic conditions.

Nowadays, agriculture is under the pressure of climate change and new pathogen outbreaks while farmers are requiring breeders to develop more resistant and resilient genotypes. The genetic base for breeding may be increased through appropriate conservation, description and characterization of local varieties and germplasm collections that have never been used in breeding, and which could be sources of useful alleles. In this framework, the present paper focuses on eight maize landraces of the eastern part of Emilia-Romagna, derived from the Italian maize collection sampled in 1954. Landraces are characterized by a short cycle length and different kernel types—mainly flint-like or an intermediate type of yellow or yellow–orange color—while dent landraces are less represented. Pigmented and white corns are absent even though one landrace (Va213) showed the presence of scattered blue kernels on yellow ears. Ear shape is frequently conical, a trait associated with drought-resistance and common in Italian traditional landraces. Genetic characterization was carried out on 529 individuals by using 10 SSR markers. A total of 68 different alleles, ranging from 4 for markers (phi084 and umc1401) to 11 (phi031) and from 27 (Va217) to 50 (Va211), were evidenced at the individual and population level. AMOVA analysis revealed a small amount (19%) of variability between populations, as supported also by PCoA, with the only exception of Va217, which is different from the others, as evidenced also by phylogenetic analysis. Population structure analysis resulted in the identification of three and four population levels, which are consistent with previous results.

Wine traceability based on DNA analysis has been reported in several previous studies but no one until now had monitored how far molecular traceability was possible during wine storage, before and after bottling. The present study tries to fill this gap of knowledge by following, in the real case of a large wine cooperative, the possibility to trace wine production through DNA analysis during storage period. Two monovarietal productions: red sparkling Bonarda PDO and white Pinot gris PDO, were followed starting from the end of oenological practices until 1 year after bottling. During the pre-bottling period, samples were collected every 10 days during four consecutive months, after bottling samples were collected at day 1 and after 2, 8 and 12 months. DNA analysis evidences that for both wines, traceability by applying SSR analysis on the extracted DNA is possible, at least, until month 8, after that DNA degradation increases hindering, mainly for the red wine, the possibility to a correct varietal identification.