Israeli germplasm: phenotyping and genotyping of native grapevines (Vitis vinifera L.)

In this study 32 grapevine accessions from Israel were phenotyped according to O.I.V descriptors and phyllometry, furthermore genotyped with seven microsatellite loci for the first time for further clarification of their potential biodiversity and phylogenetic grapevine analysis. The results according to the SSR microsatellites suggest that the majority of the studied Israeli grapevine accessions, compared to the international reference varieties, show considerably different genotypes - nine accessions showed a unique (individual) genotype, further three accessions represented a first group, four accessions represent a second group and eight groups contained two different accessions. The significant differences among the studied grapevine accessions were observed also in most of the 17 phyllometric measurements of significant leaf characteristics, especially in the leaf area, vein length (L1, L2, L3 and L4), depth of lateral sinuses (OS, OI), petiol length (Lp) and vein angles (β, β’). The observed grapevine characteristics according to the O.I.V. descriptors suggested that more than three-quarters of the studied accessions showed characteristics of table grapes

Ampelographic characterisation of grapevine accessions denominated 'Refošk', 'Refosco', 'Teran' and 'Terrano' (Vitis vinifera L.) from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy

Grapevines denominated 'Refošk', 'Refosco', 'Teran' and 'Terrano have been cultivated in the area of western Slovenia, north-western Croatia and north-eastern Italy for centuries. Despite historical documents reporting the longstanding tradition of grapevine cultivation and winemaking, the denomination and origin of these varieties is still questionable. The aims of this work were to study the genetic identity and relationship of the grapevine accessions denominated 'Refošk', 'Refosco', 'Teran' and 'Teranno' that have been traditionally cultivated in Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. For this purpose, 9 SSR loci were analysed to fingerprint 53 accessions with denominations or similar true-to-type morphologies of 'Refošk' and 'Teran'. The grapevine variety 'Refošk' cultivated in Slovenia and most accessions denominated 'Teran' in Croatia showed identical genotypes in all analysed SSR markers, and can therefore be used as synonyms. Five accessions showed identical genotypes to 'Refosco dal peduncolo rosso' variety, however five other genotyped accessions suggested individual profiles, and can be characterized as clonal mutants of true-to-type 'Refošk'/'Teran'. Accessions 'Sladki Teran' and 'Ref5/31' shared 56 % and 61 % of the alleles with true-to-type profiles of 'Refošk'/'Teran' and their parentage analysis strongly suggested a full-siblings relationship. Obtained results contribute to the understanding of the genetic diversity of grapevine varieties cultivated in this part of Europe