It is no surprise that our changing climate does not only affect humans. Plants are also greatly impacted by environmental fluctuations, especially grapevines. Viticulture is the farming of grapevines used in winemaking and this agricultural system is recognized as an indicator of climate change due to its climate sensitivity; the lifecycle of grapevines, is so closely linked to temperature that it has been used to study past climates and predict future effects (Duchêne, 2016; Mosedale et al., 2016). Further, the climate also impacts the genetic constitution of grapevines, and therefore affects wine taste and quality (Pons et al., 2017; Nicolosi et al., 2022).
Fluctuations in different environmental conditions, such as temperature, impacts gene expression within plants (Rienth et al., 2016). These genotypic changes alter the vine phenotype, where the phenotype represents visible attributes resulting from the effect of environment on organism genetics. Vitis vinifera is a common grapevine used in the wine industry and this species displays immense phenotypic plasticity (the vine’s ability to change due to environmental inputs) (West-Eberhard, 2008; Dago et al., 2010) (Figure 1). Further, V. vinifera has the ability to produce different wines due to differing berry quality based on the environment where it is cultivated (Dago et al., 2010). DNA methylation, the addition of methyl groups to genetic material within cells, holds an important role in phenotypic plasticity (Varela et al., 2021). Methylation has the ability to regulate gene expression within grapevines and affect aspects relating to growth and development (Marfil et al., 2019; Varela et al., 2021). These changes ultimately impact the fruit and therefore, wine quality (Marfil et al., 2019).
Phenology refers to the timing of recurrent biological or lifecycle events and event timing due to abiotic and biotic factors (Liang, 2019). An example of grapevine phenology is the timing of fruit ripening, referred to as véraison (Warren, Price and Jenkins, 2021, p.4). With increasing global temperature changes, véraison is occurring earlier in the growing season and the higher temperatures cause impacts on fruit quality (Hansen et al., 2006; Duchêne, 2016). Throughout the growing season the acidity and sugar content of grapes change; the higher temperatures increase the rate at which grape acidity declines due to accelerated malic acid degradation upon the accumulation of sugar (Duchêne, 2016; Rienth et al., 2016). Acid decrease, in addition to pigmentation alterations through changes in anthocyanin amounts, and differences in aromatics, are among the most important aspects of global temperature increase and climate change as it relates to the wine industry (Rienth et al., 2016).
As a result of viticulture being a high-income agriculture sector, effects of climate change on grapevines have been well studied and have become a common indicator of environmental change. The phenotypic plasticity of grapevines means that temperature increases have the potential to cause huge effects on the wine industry. However, it is not yet known if these impacts will increase or decrease wine quality.
References
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Dago, D., Dal Santo, S., Sara, Z., Fasoli, M., Paola, T., Massimo, D. and Mario, P., 2010. Phenotypic plasticity in Vitis vinifera: how environment shapes wine.
Duchêne, E., 2016. How can grapevine genetics contribute to the adaptation to climate change? OENO One, [e-journal] 50(3). https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2016.50.3.98.
Hansen, J., Sato, M., Ruedy, R., Lo, K., Lea, D.W. and Medina-Elizade, M., 2006. Global temperature change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, [e-journal] 103(39), pp.14288–14293. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0606291103.
Liang, L., 2019. Phenology. In: Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. [e-book] Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11739-7.
Marfil, C., Ibañez, V., Alonso, R., Varela, A., Bottini, R., Masuelli, R., Fontana, A. and Berli, F., 2019. Changes in grapevine DNA methylation and polyphenols content induced by solar ultraviolet-B radiation, water deficit and abscisic acid spray treatments. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, [e-journal] 135, pp.287–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2018.12.021.
Merlot leaf. 2007 [image online] Available at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Merlot_leaf.JPG> [Accessed 07 November 2022]
Mosedale, J.R., Abernethy, K.E., Smart, R.E., Wilson, R.J. and Maclean, I.M.D., 2016. Climate change impacts and adaptive strategies: lessons from the grapevine. Global Change Biology, [e-journal] 22(11), pp.3814–3828. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13406.
Nicolosi, E., Sicilia, A., Ferlito, F., Bonfante, A., Monaco, E. and Lo Piero, A.R., 2022. Phenotypic Plasticity in Bud Fruitfulness Expressed in Two Distinct Wine Grape Cultivars Grown under Three Different Pedoclimatic Conditions. Agriculture, [e-journal] 12(10), p.1660. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101660.
Pons, A., Allamy, L., Schüttler, A., Rauhut, D., Thibon, C. and Darriet, P., 2017. What is the expected impact of climate change on wine aroma compounds and their precursors in grape? OENO One, [e-journal] 51(2), pp.141–146. https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2017.51.2.1868.
Rienth, M., Torregrosa, L., Sarah, G., Ardisson, M., Brillouet, J.-M. and Romieu, C., 2016. Temperature desynchronizes sugar and organic acid metabolism in ripening grapevine fruits and remodels their transcriptome. BMC Plant Biology, [e-journal] 16(1), p.164. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-016-0850-0.
Varela, A., Ibañez, V.N., Alonso, R., Zavallo, D., Asurmendi, S., Gomez Talquenca, S., Marfil, C.F. and Berli, F.J., 2021. Vineyard environments influence Malbec grapevine phenotypic traits and DNA methylation patterns in a clone-dependent way. Plant Cell Reports, [e-journal] 40(1), pp.111–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-020-02617-w.
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Comments
9 Responses to “Impact of Climate Change on Grapevine Genetics and Wine”
Hello iSci!
In third year we are currently working on our Wine Science and Climate Change projects, so I decided to create a blog post combining the two and talk about how climate change affects wine! I took a genetic approach with the influence of temperature on phenotype as well as an ecology approach on how temperature affects the lifecycle of the grapevine, and used oenology (the study of wine) and climate science to tie it together.
I hope you enjoy!
-Aunika
Hi Aunika,
Great blog post! Very detailed and a good synthesis and analysis of information. I have a few nit-picky suggestions that you can consider:
1. First paragraph, third sentence —> I don’t think climate sensitivity is one word, consider removing the hyphen.
2. First paragraph, last sentence —> For enhanced clarity, consider replacing “has effects on” to just “affects”
3. Second paragraph, first sentence —> For enhanced clarity, consider rephrasing “impacts the expression of gene within plants” to “impacts gene expression within plants.”
4. Second paragraph, third sentence —> I don’t think you need ‘that being” in the brackets, the brackets should imply an explanation.
5. Last paragraph, first sentence —> consider rephrasing it to the following for enhanced clarity —> “As a result of viticulture being a high-income agriculture sector, climate change’s effects on grapevines have been well-studied”
6. Consider adding a figure to help the reader better understand some of the terminologies. For example the fruit ripening process, perhaps you can look for a figure that demonstrates this through a diagram.
Goodluck with the edits!
Cheers,
Vidhi
Hello Vidhi,
I agree with your suggested sentence structure changes and have edited accordingly! I also added a figure like you suggested!
Thank you for your ideas,
-Aunika
Hi Aunika,
This was a really interesting blog post! I have a few minor suggestions that could help in the editing process:
– In your second paragraph, it may be beneficial to add what environmental conditions can lead to DNA methylation just to tie together the concepts in the paragraph a little more.
– You may want to explain how the changes mentioned at the end of your third paragraph affect wine quality.
– As Vidhi commented, it could be helpful to include a figure. One suggestion I have for this could be images of different V. vinifera variations with respect to environmental changes.
Overall, great job and I look forward to reading the final version!
Happy editing,
Naya
Hello Naya,
It is not known whether the environmental changes will have a good or bad impact yet so I can not add that! I also did add a figure.
Thanks for the comments,
-Aunika
Hi Aunika,
Great blog post! I didn’t know grapevines played such an interesting role in the detection of climate change. I have a few suggestions for you:
1. The third sentence in your first paragraph is a bit lengthy, I would consider splitting this into multiple sentences. For example, “Viticulture is the farming of grapevines used in winemaking- an agricultural system that’s recognized as an indicator of climate change. Viticulture is able to recognize climate change due to its climate sensitivity which has been demonstrated as the lifecycle of grapevines is closely linked to temperature. Moreover, the lifecycle of grapevines has been used to study past climates and predict future effects…”.
2. I agree with other comments that adding a figure would be beneficial. For example, you could incorporate a figure that depicts the process of genotypic changes of grapevines in response to their environment. This way, the reader can better visualize how these plants change and why these changes are so important.
3. Generally, new information should not be included in a conclusion paragraph. I would suggest moving new information to the paragraph before and focusing more on summarizing your blog post in your conclusion. Your conclusion should include fewer references as the summary of key concepts should be written in your own words.
4. Make sure in your references, after the journal title you include [e-journal]. You seem to do this in some of your references, but in others- with similar sources, you do not. I would suggest reviewing your references just to make sure they are all written properly using the ARU style.
Overall, great work on your blog post! Your topic is definitely interesting and relevant. Good luck editing!
Mia 🙂
Hello Mia,
I have made the changes you suggested both editing and content wise!. I also checked and fixed my references.
Thank you for your suggestions,
-Aunika
Hello Aunika,
Awesome blog post! While I’m not a fan of wine, it is definitely interesting to know that it has other applications outside of parties. I have just a few small suggestions for you, mainly pertaining to your conclusion. Firstly, the conclusion should not contain new information, so there shouldn’t be citations in it if these are facts you have already stated. Your last sentence about the future viability of viticulture regions contains new (and genuinely interesting) information that should have a separate paragraph dedicated to it. You discuss how the temperature affects the grape flavor but is this change always a bad thing? I wouldn’t know. Finally, I think your last sentence feels like an abrupt ending, but that may just come down to how I read it.
Overall, Cool blog post, and happy editing!
Naira
Hello Naira,
I altered the conclusion so that it does not contain new information and added a figure to help readers. I can not add to whether or not the climate effects will be good or bad for the wine since there is not a lot of research out there on that part!
Thanks,
-Aunika