Abiotic Stress Responses in Grapevine Systems
Summary
Grapevines (Vitis spp.) encounter a range of non‐living (abiotic) stresses—including drought, heat, salinity and alkalinity—that compromise growth, yield and fruit quality. Resilience arises from coordinated responses at molecular, cellular, physiological and developmental levels. Central to drought tolerance is the hormone abscisic acid (ABA), which modulates stomatal closure, root‐shoot signalling and osmotic adjustment. Heat stress triggers production of heat‐shock proteins and alters membrane stability, while high salinity and alkali conditions disrupt ionic balance and induce oxidative stress through accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Grapevines deploy antioxidant enzymes and secondary metabolites—such as phenylpropanoids and flavonoids—to mitigate ROS damage. Rootstocks play a pivotal role by excluding or compartmentalising ions, sustaining water uptake and regulating hormone levels. Combined stresses often elicit non‐additive responses, reflecting complex cross‐talk between signalling pathways and epigenetic regulation of stress‐responsive genes. Advances in transcriptomics and metabolomics have unveiled key hub genes and time‐specific pathways, guiding the selection of tolerant cultivars and rootstocks. Integrating these insights into breeding and vineyard management is vital for maintaining global wine and table grape production under climate change.
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Abiotic Stress Responses in Grapevine Systems publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in abiotic stress responses in grapevine systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Abscisic acid (ABA): A plant hormone that regulates stomatal closure and mediates response to drought and salinity.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS): Highly reactive molecules produced under stress that can damage cellular structures unless scavenged by antioxidants.
Transcriptome: The complete set of RNA transcripts expressed by a genome under specific conditions, used to identify stress‐responsive genes.
Rootstock: The root portion of a grafted plant, which can confer stress tolerance traits such as ion exclusion and water uptake efficiency.
Osmotic adjustment: The process by which cells accumulate solutes to maintain water balance and turgor under drought or salinity stress.
References
- The scion-driven transcriptomic changes guide the resilience of grafted near-isohydric grapevines under water deficit. Horticulture Research (2024).
- Global transcriptome and gene co-expression network analyses reveal regulatory and non-additive effects of drought and heat stress in grapevine. Frontiers in Plant Science (2023).
- Oxidative stress homeostasis in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). Frontiers in Environmental Science (2015).
- Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) responses to salt stress and alkali stress: transcriptional and metabolic profiling. BMC Plant Biology (2022).
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