The Crimean autochthonous grape varieties are unique by their origin and serve as a valuable source for breeding new cultivars with increased salt and frost resistance, as well as high-quality berries. However, they suffer from fungal pathogens, as the dry and hot summer months contribute to the epiphytotic course of diseases. An increase in the resistance of Crimean grape varieties is currently achieved through interspecific hybridization. In this study, we describe the genetic and agrobiological diversity of three hybrid populations obtained using the Vitis interspecific hybrid ‘Magarach 31-77-10′ as a female parent and Muscadinia rotundifolia × Vitis vinifera BC5 hybrid plants as male parents. The hybrid nature of the populations was assessed using RADseq high-throughput genotyping. We discovered 12,734 SNPs, which were common to all three hybrid populations. We also proved with the SSR markers that the strong powdery and downy mildew resistance of the paternal genotypes is determined by the dominant Run1/Rpv1 locus inherited from M. rotundifolia. As a result, the disease development score (R, %) for both mildew diseases in the female parent ‘Magarach 31-77-10’ was three times higher than in male parents 2000-305-143 and 2000-305-163 over two years of phytopathological assessment. The highest values of yield-contributing traits (average bunch weight ~197 g and 1.3 kg as yield per plant) were detected in the population 4-11 (♀M. No. 31-77-10 × 2000-305-163). Despite the epiphytotic development of PM, the spread of oidium to the vegetative organs of hybrids 4-11 did not exceed 20%. Some hybrid genotypes with high productivity and resistance to pathogens were selected for further assessment as promising candidates for new varieties.

Leaf-feeding phylloxera decreases the photosynthetic activity of a grape plant, leading to decreasing number of fruit buds. In addition, phylloxera larvae emerging from the leaf galls may colonize the roots, negatively affecting the growth of the grape plant. In this study, we evaluated host tolerance of three grapevine hybrid populations obtained from crossing of the same maternal grapevine M. no. 31-77-10 with interspecific hybrids carrying introgressions from Muscadinia and other North American Vitis species against leaf-feeding grape phylloxera. Combining genotyping data of the populations obtained with 12,734 SNPs and their resistance phenotypes evaluated in the laboratory experiment, we performed an association study. As the result of GWAS, nine SNPs with the lowest significant p-values were discovered in the whole sample of 139 hybrids as associated with variation of the scores ‘the percentage of infested leaves’ and ‘intensity of gall formation’. Three of the SNPs on LG 7 were located in the same chromosome interval where a major QTL (RDV6) for root phylloxera resistance was reported from Muscadine background. Two SNPs on LG 8 were detected within the gene, encoding E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase UPL4 involved in apoptosis. SNPs detected on LG 13 and LG 18 may overlap with the previously reported QTLs for phylloxera resistance inherited from V. cinerea.

The modern level of knowledge development in the field of fundamental sciences makes it possible to reliably investigate the processes of evolution. The purpose of our research was to determine the need to establish the existing evolutionary transformations in resistance to abiotic and biotic stress factors of the biosphere in a grape plant, which may be natural for all horticulture crops, and on the other hand, based on the postulate of natural and experimental evolution, to prove the processes of natural evolution as a result of experimental breeding. The results obtained in the study of particular issues of genetics of grapes, based on the existence of general biological regularities, can be prolonged for interpretation, with reference to other horticulture crops. We studied the genetics of grapes, in particular crossability, the inheritance of signs and characteristics, the establishment of regularities in the display of selection value, and heterosis, allowing us to formulate the principles of modeling a new variety. Investigating the process of creating grape varieties that are resistant to biotic factor, it was suggested to consider it from the point of view of the coevolution of the plant and pathogen.

Vitis rotundifolia Michx. is one of the species of the family Vitaceae, with resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses. The present study reports new scientific knowledge about the inheritance of resistance to downy mildew, powdery mildew and frost by V. vinifera varieties from V. rotundifolia. Recombinant lines of three hybrid populations from the crossing of the maternal genotype ♀M. 31-77-10 with V. rotundifolia hybrids were used as the object of the study. As a result of laboratory screening, more than 40 % of recombinants of the ♀M. 31-77-10× ×[DRX-M5-734+DRX-M5-753+DRX-M5-790] population showed a high degree of frost resistance (–24 °C), while 6 % of transgressive recombinants were characterized by a very high degree of resistance (–27 °С). The maternal genotype ♀M. 31-77-10 does not carry alleles of resistance to powdery mildew at the Run1 locus and in the field suffers from powdery mildew much more than the paternal genotypes. The prevalence of powdery mildew on vegetative organs in the three recombinant populations over the years varies on average between 3.2–17.1, 0.3–17.7 and 0.6–5.2 %, respectively. As a result, almost all recombinant genotypes that received a resistant allele from the paternal genome are highly resistant to powdery mildew.

Intraspecific diversity of the immune grape Muscadinia rotundifolia Michaux. can serve as a rich source of valuable resistance loci to the most widespread pathogens and pests of grapevine. While only one Run1/Rpg1 resistance locus has been introgressed from M. rotundifolia to the Vitis vinifera gene pool, a number of other genes conferring resistance to powdery mildew and downy mildew have been identified in various Muscadinia cultivars. A larger introduction of Muscadinia varieties to the European continent would greatly facilitate experiments of interspecific crosses as well as stimulate biotechnological efforts to overcome the main barrier to F1 fertility caused by the differences in chromosome number. For the successful introduction of Muscadinia into the new European environment, it is necessary to overcome the difficulties associated with the physiological characteristics of the species, such as insufficient cold tolerance and very late fruit ripening. To facilitate the further discovery of valuable loci in Muscadinia and their transfer to grapevine breeding programs, we constructed a high-density linkage map using an S1 mapping population obtained from the self-pollination of M. rotundifolia cv. Dixie maintained on the southern coast of Crimea. Using ddRADseq, 3730 SNPs were ordered across 20 linkage groups spanning 2753.6 cM of the total map length. No segregation in resistance to diseases and pests was observed among the ‘Dixie’ S1 population, suggesting the presence of homozygous non-segregating resistant loci in the genetic background of ‘Dixie’. Markers with high segregation distortion showed a bias towards chromosomal intervals on linkage groups 10 and 20, where loci affecting the survival of ‘Dixie’ S1 progeny may be localized. QTLs with significant additive and dominance effects were discovered on LG14 and LG18, affecting the morphological traits associated with the vigor of growth and adaptability of young Muscadinia vines in the conditions of Crimea.

ISHS XV EUCARPIA Symposium on Fruit Breeding and Genetics The profile of the phenolic components of grape cultivars of a complex genetic structure