Description

Grapevine (V. vinifera) is one of the most economically important cultivated perennial plants of the world and is susceptible to an array of insect pests and diseases caused by pathogenic viruses, bacteria, fungi and oomycetes. In the late XIXth century, the existence of the entire European viticulture was threatened by the introduction of phylloxera and downy and powdery mildews from North American. To ensure satisfactory yields and berry quality, vines are grafted on genetically resistant rootstocks and phytochemicals are applied frequently in vineyards to protect the highly susceptible scions. Most of these compounds are potentially harmful to the environment and to human health. Currently, one of the major objectives of many researchers worldwide is to develop alternative approaches that achieve better grapevine health by increasing grape tolerance to biotic stresses or exploiting the activities of biocontrol agents.

The present Research Topic will focus on different areas including, but not limited to:

- Understanding the molecular basis of V. vinifera susceptibility or resistance to pathogens and pests.
- Biocontrol and integrated grapevine disease management, negative and positive side effects, efficacy at the lab and field scale.
- Strengthening the innate immune responses and induced resistance using pathogenic or beneficial microbes and their derivative PAMPs or MAPMs, new biological resources, mechanisms and signalling.
- Knowledge of different resistance loci/genes evolved in wild grapevine species to restrict pest and pathogen infection and assess the potential application of these defense genes in the generation of new resistant varieties.
- Genetic resources and breeding, integration of effective genetic resistance into cultivated grapevines to deliver varieties that would combine resistance to different diseases.
- Impact of control strategies on microbial communities associated with the grapevines or vineyard soils.
- Impacts of abiotic factors on genetic or induced resistance of grapevine.

In spite of the large number of research efforts carried out on this, important information is still missing or fragmentary. This Research Topic will comprise the most recent scientific progress aimed at the physiological, molecular, phenotypic and genetic improvement of grapevine focusing on the interactions of grapevine with pests, pathogenic and beneficial microbes or their derivative compounds, also using omics approaches.