Genetic Diversity and Structure in Grapevine Cultivars

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) represents one of the world’s most ancient and economically significant fruit crops, cultivated for table grapes, wine and raisins. Over millennia of human selection and vegetative propagation, a vast number of cultivars has arisen, each bearing unique genetic signatures that underpin traits such as berry composition, disease resistance and environmental adaptation. Understanding the breadth of genetic diversity and the ways in which it is partitioned into distinct genetic groups (population structure) is essential for conservation of rare or regionally endemic cultivars, for the identification of untapped alleles in breeding programmes and for safeguarding resilience in the face of climate change. Advances in molecular marker technologies — from simple sequence repeats to high-throughput single nucleotide polymorphism arrays and genotyping-by-sequencing approaches — have enabled comprehensive surveys of germplasm collections worldwide. Analyses reveal both clear geographic gradients of diversity, reflecting routes of historical dissemination between the Near East, Mediterranean basin and Europe, and extensive admixture resulting from human-mediated exchange. Together, these studies offer a roadmap for the strategic deployment of genetic resources to enhance yield stability, quality attributes and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses in modern viticulture.

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Genetic Diversity and Structure in Grapevine Cultivars publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in genetic diversity and structure in grapevine cultivars across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Genetic diversity: The total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, measured by the presence of different alleles in a population.

Population structure: The organisation of genetic variation into subgroups within a species, often as a result of geographic separation or selective breeding.

Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP): A variation at a single base pair in DNA, used as a high-resolution molecular marker for genotyping.

Linkage disequilibrium (LD): The non-random association of alleles at different loci, reflecting historical recombination and selection events.

Heterozygosity: A measure of genetic variation within an individual or population, expressed as the probability that two randomly chosen alleles at a locus are different.

References

1. Exploring genetic diversity and population structure of a large grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) germplasm collection in Türkiye. Frontiers in Plant Science (2023).
2. Extended diversity analysis of cultivated grapevine Vitis vinifera with 10K genome-wide SNPs. PLOS ONE (2018).
3. Genetic diversity analysis of cultivated and wild grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) accessions around the Mediterranean basin and Central Asia. BMC Plant Biology (2018).