In a germplasm bank collection the conservation and characterization of genetic resources is a prerequisite in order to use the material in breeding projects aiming the creation of new cultivars. In the present study, 54Prunus salicina domesticaandPrunus domesticagenotypes (including seven Greek cultivars), maintained in theex situNational Genebank Collection of Greece, were classified using microsatellite (simple sequence repeat, SSR) markers on high resolution melting (HRM) analysis. The SSR primer pairs were chosen from the published literature as originally designed onPrunusspecies. This combined approach was used to genotype all plum accessions of the collection highlighting the benefits of either method (HRM and SSRs) for cultivar identification. Dendrograms forP. domesticaandP. salicinaand a combined one with all the genotypes assayed were produced. A total of 15 from the 19P. domesticaaccessions analysed, including all the Greek accessions but ‘Avgati Skopelou’, were grouped into the same clade in the combined dendrogram, whereas the remaining four were dispersed into theP. salinicaclades. Bayesian structure analysis confirmed that ‘Avgati Skopelou’ differs from the rest of the Greek plum cultivars since it was not grouped into the same cluster. The combination of HRM and SSRs, provided a considerably faster, cost-effective, closed-tube microsatellite genotyping method for molecular characterization of plum cultivars.

Muscat flavor in grapes is associated with a substitution of a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) located at position 1822 (SNP1822G>T) within the coding sequence of the VviDXS gene. Various methods, including the use of High Resolution Melting (HRM) analysis, have been suggested to discriminate different SNP allelic states including the molecular discrimination of the muscat from the non-muscat grape varieties, thus providing the ability to minimize lengthy grape breeding programs when selecting for grape muscat flavor before the fruit maturity stage. HRM analysis on the SNP1822 was performed on a group of 128 wine producing grape varieties in order to separate the muscat from the non-muscat genotypes before they are used for further breeding activities. This approach could be used either as a single-step prescreening method or in accordance with recently published methodology to elucidate on varietal characterization and authentication as these are important requirements concerning nurseries, growers and winemakers.

Wines produced from autochthonous Vitis vinifera varieties have an essential financial impact on the national economy of Greece. However, scientific data regarding characteristics and quality aspects of these wines is extremely limited. The aim of the current study is to define the molecular profile and to describe chemical and sensory characteristics of the wines produced by two autochthonous red grapevine varieties—“Karnachalades” and “Bogialamades”—grown in the wider area of Soufli (Thrace, Greece). We used seven microsatellites to define the molecular profile of the two varieties, and then we compared their profile to similar molecular data from other autochthonous as well as international varieties. Grape berries were harvested at optimum technological maturity from a commercial vineyard for two consecutive vintages (2017–2018) and vilification was performed using a common vinification protocol: the 2017 vintage provided wines, from both varieties, with greater rates of phenolics and anthocyanins than 2018, whereas regarding the sensory analysis, “Bogialamades” wine provided a richer profile than “Karnachalades”. To our knowledge, this is the first study that couples both molecular profiling and exploration of the enological potential of the rare Greek varieties “Karnachalades” and “Bogialamades”; they represent two promising varieties for the production of red wines in the historic region of Thrace.