DivEsca

As part of the DivEsca program, a recipient of the PNDV 2025 call for projects, trunk cuttings were taken in March from more than 600 grapevine genotypes derived from populations in the INRAE ResDur program. The goal is to evaluate their susceptibility to Esca in order to identify specific genetic factors that can be utilized in breeding and variety development programs.

DivEsca, led by the SAVE Joint Research Unit in Bordeaux, brings together the BioForA and SVQV Joint Research Units in Orléans, as well as the IFV in Colmar.

Coordinators:

Guillaume Arnold (Action 1): Phenotyping of ResDur genetic resources for their susceptibility to esca

Alessandra Maia-Grondard (Action 2): Study of metabolic traits in healthy vine wood

Komlan Avia (Action 3): Genetic determinism and prediction of susceptibility to esca
 

Vine stumps cut with a chainsaw
 

Brief summary of the project

The DivEsca project aims to characterize the intermediate breeding populations developed under the INRAE-ResDur program in terms of their susceptibility to esca disease, with the goal of identifying specific genetic factors that can be utilized in breeding and variety development programs. The characterization will focus on the proportion of necrosis, the history of esca leaf symptoms and mortality, as well as the metabolic, anatomical, and biochemical properties of the wood. These observations will be based on destructive sampling and non-destructive measurements conducted on the ResDur populations at INRAE Colmar. These populations are the source of new varieties resistant to downy mildew and powdery mildew that have already been selected or are currently under selection; they have also served as parents in regional variety innovation programs. Identifying genetic determinants related to susceptibility to esca in this plant material would provide tools for genetic selection to address vineyard decline issues and also lead to a better understanding of the processes involved.