Premium winegrape varieties within improved fungal pathogen tolerance and quality traits through gene-editing
Summary
Objective
The Australian wine sector has a history of adopting innovative technologies to maintain a competitive advantage in the international wine market. The development of gene-editing technologies represents a step change in plant breeding, by offering the possibility of modifying specific traits in existing premium wine grape varieties without these plants having to be labelled as genetically modified organisms. CSIRO is uniquely placed in Australia to realise the promise of this technology for the wine sector, having extensive experience with genetic modification of crop plants, and having partnered with Wine Australia for over 20 years in traditional grapevine breeding.
The overall objective of this project is to apply new ‘DNA-free’ gene editing technologies to the key winegrape varieties in Australia. Initial targets for manipulation have been identified in previous CSIRO research and studies in other plant species and will be prioritised with Wine Australia and the wine sector via a co-design process to maximise impact.
The technical capability for DNA-free gene editing will be developed in the aligned project CSA 2301-1: Enabling technologies for production of improved clones of existing premium winegrape varieties using ‘DNA-free’ gene-editing. Together, the program will provide a pipeline of superior clones of existing premium winegrape varieties, with improved agronomic and processing traits such as increased disease tolerance or improved fruit composition.
Background
Maintaining the profitable and sustainable production of premium winegrape varieties in Australia is becoming increasingly difficult, due to the high susceptibility of these cultivars to pathogens and a changing climate. Breeding of new varieties can address these issues, as exemplified by the generation of CSIRO mildew-resistant varieties during the previous program of work, but uptake is hindered by concerns regarding consumer acceptance and marketability. As a result, grapegrowers remain dependent on the frequent and unsustainable application of fungicides, and winemakers and viticulturists spend time and resources managing vineyard and winemaking practices to ensure that fruit and wine composition aligns with consumer expectation.
As our understanding of how disease susceptibility and fruit composition are genetically controlled increases, it enables the development of strategies to improve fungal resistance and winegrape composition through gene-editing technologies. Importantly, such technologies allow the development of improved germplasm that is expected to be regarded as a clone of the original variety, allowing the variety name to be used.
Research approach
The project has three main tiers of activity, with increasing levels of fundamental research and gene discovery required to reach a practical outcome. Together, these comprise a pipeline for the improvement of traits in existing grape varieties using DNA-free gene-editing. For example, traits to target initially will be those for which target genes are known and well-characterised, and where eliminating their function may provide a beneficial solution for the grape and wine sector. Additional industry priorities will require further investigation by testing gene editing strategies or gene discovery. The three tiers are:
- Knock out expression or function of gene targets which are already well-understood, and the effect(s) can be predicted with a reasonable level of confidence (e.g., fungal resistance and undesirable fruit compositional traits)
- Validate gene targets, where the effect(s) of knockout or editing are unknown
- Discover genes responsible for controlling important consumer and winemaking traits.
The project pipeline is flexible and additional traits with industry relevance could enter at any stage of the project, particularly as additional information about their genetic control becomes available.
Sector benefits
This project will, in combination with CSA 2301-1, provide the Australian wine industry with improved clones of existing wine grape varieties that will:
- benefit the sustainability and profitability of winegrape growing in Australia by minimising fungicide usage
- enhance fruit composition to meet market specifications and preserve typicity in the face of a changing climate.