Grapevine type reference pilot study

Abstract

This pilot project successfully trialed an international collaborative arrangement to validate the identification of a select group of grapevine varieties (scions and rootstocks) held in Australian germplasm collections.

Summary

The naming of grapevine varieties and identification is complex due to a legacy of many centuries of cultivation in many countries and significant movement of material between regions within countries and between countries over a very long period of time. This has caused a large number of varieties to be misnamed and to have multiple names or synonyms. Until recently the lack of a coordinated multi-national approach to naming and identification has contributed to the legacy. The development twenty years ago by CSIRO of an objective method of grapevine identification based on DNA markers known as microsatellites or SSRs has enabled researchers throughout the world to characterise national collections to identify variety identification errors and synonyms and the genetic diversity within collections. Commercial and semi-commercial services are offered to industry throughout the world with one service in Australia offered by the AGRF. Unfortunately the major collections in Australia, held by CSIRO and SARDI, that represent up to 80% of unique material held in Australia (McMichael et al., 2013) have not been completely characterised by DNA profiling. An article by Walker and Thomas in 2009 reported on the importance of Australian germplasm collections to both researchers and industry and noted that there was a degree of urgency for the Australian industry to address strategic issues relating to collections in Australia given the impending closure of the CSIRO Merbein site. Subsequently the CSIRO collection was moved to a new Sunraysia site when Merbein was closed. Both the CSIRO and SARDI collections are currently closed to industry.