Abiotic stress tolerance in grapes

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The acquisition of freezing tolerance is key to the survival of many plants in temperate regions. Investigations into the molecular basis for this tolerance, mostly in the model plant Arabidopsis, have discovered that the CBF pathway is important for this process: Activation of this pathway by low, non-freezing temperatures is sufficient to increase freezing tolerance. Plants contain more than one CBF gene but it is not known which is required to protect tissues that are essential for survival.Our lab addresses this question using grapevines as a model. Winter hardiness in these plants depends in large part on freezing tolerance of buds and canes, tissue types that are absent from Arabisopsis. Our approach is to compare the freezing tolerant wild grape, Vitis riparia, with the freezing sensitive wine grape, Vitis vinifera. We identified and analyzed 4 different grape CBF genes and want to determine now which differences in the CBF pathways of the two grape species results in differences in freezing tolerance.It is anticipated that the results of this research will have far-reaching practical applications. The Ontario wine industry contributed $245 million in 2006 to the Ontario government revenue. However, the continuing success of this Industry is challenged by severe winters, which caused yield losses of about 50% in 2005. An increased understanding of the CBF pathway in grapes would provide the information necessary to guide a balanced approach to the production of winegrape cultivars with increased abiotic stress tolerance. The same approach could be applied to other woody perennials such as peach and plum.