Portugal scientists discover role of grape microorganism to control grapevine diseases

Scientists from the School of Sciences at the University of Minho (ECUM), in Portugal discovered how to use microorganisms from the surface of a grape to fight fungi and control diseases of the vine, such as gray rot (Botrytis cinerea).

The innovation exploits the compounds that yeasts produce for the design of antimicrobial formulations, making it possible to reduce the use of conventional pesticides or fungicides that compromise the sector's sustainability.

The secret lies in the microflora (bacteria, yeasts, and fungi) that inhabit the surface of the grape berry.

These microorganisms play a crucial role in the winemaking process (fermentation). Their diversity and abundance vary with the ripening stage, grape variety, climate, and viticultural practices, among other factors.

″We showed that some species of yeast that grow on the berry surface inhibit the growth of filamentous fungi that cause the disease,″ Project Coordinator Hernâni Gerós explained.

″This opens up excellent prospects for designing biological strategies to control vine diseases, minimizing the use of fungicides that are harmful to the environment,″ noted the professor in the Department of Biology at ECUM and researcher at the Center for Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA).

The results were published in the scientific journal OENO One – Vine and Wine, and the work is being developed in parallel with the ″GrapeMicrobiota″ project, co-financed with 250,000 euros from the Foundation for Science and Technology.

″GrapeMicrobiota″ explores the characterization, selection, and enhancement of indigenous yeasts from three grape varieties from the Douro region (Northern Portugal): Touriga nacional, Sousão, and Viosinho.

In addition to their potential for biocontrol of diseases caused by fungi, these strains identified in the grape berry are being used to produce regional wines with high typicality, in collaboration with the company Sogevinus, as an alternative to industrial yeasts.

″With the globalization of vine growing and wine-making methods, today high-quality wines are produced anywhere with world-renowned grape varieties, but producing wines with a characteristic profile of the region is a great challenge, hence the focus on regional grape varieties. These typical wines, which reflect the region’s characteristics, the people, the ancestral culture methods, are increasingly appreciated by consumers,″ Gerós highlighted.

The studies conducted by his team in the Vinho Verde region, with the Loureiro and Vinhão varieties, also made it possible to isolate 17 native yeasts.

They showed that the microflora on the surface of the grape depends on the grape variety and the region and is also influenced by the amount of pesticides or fungicides applied in the vineyard. These results were also published in OENO One – Vine and Wine.

″The diversity of the vine's microbial community can strongly contribute to the typicality of the wines since the microorganisms that live on the berry surface determine the progress of the fermentation process,″ reinforced Viviana Martins, researcher at University of Minho.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)

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