VITI-GRAFT

Financement:  Plant2Pro Institut Carnot

Partenariat: IFV Anne-Sophie Spilmont

Période : janvier 2022 > janvier 2025 (3 ans)

Contact EGFV: Sarah Cookson

Coordination: EGFV Sarah Cookson

Résumé: Much of fruit and some vegetable production relies on grafting with rootstocks to provide resistance to soil borne pathogens and abiotic stresses as well as to influence scion growth. New rootstocks have the potential to adapt agriculture to climate change without changing the characteristics of the harvested product. However, high grafting success rates are an essential prerequisite. Although grafting success is an important trait in horticulture, to date there has been very few attempts to characterize the genetic architecture of this trait in any species, no high-throughput phenotyping methods have been developed and no selection markers have been identified. This project aims to 1.) Advance our understanding of the early events of graft union formation, 2.) Develop methods to efficiently evaluate successful graft union formation in large populations, and 3.) Identify and characterize the genetic determinants of grafting success and the different steps of graft union formation in grapevine. The outcomes of this project are to provide protocols that can assess grafting success and the different steps of graft union formation in high-throughput. These protocols could be used for genetic selection of new rootstocks or varieties, to test before the potential diffusion of graft incompatible genotypes, and also for screening of compounds or micro-organisms, that improve grafting success. The results of this project will accelerate innovation in the selection of new grapevine cultivars by providing knowledge of the genetic determinants of grafting success. These protocols and knowledge could be introduced to grapevine breeding programs to identify genotypes with both good agronomical traits in the vineyard, but also in the nursery to help in the production of good quality grafted grapevines. This project will reinforce the position of the French grapevine rootstock selection programme (led by the EGFV in collaboration with the IFV) and support the internationally recognized leading position of the EGFV in understanding graft union formation in grapevine.