Ampelographic and Genetic Characterization of Grapevine Varieties (Vitis vinifera L.) of the ‘Mavroudia’ Group Cultivated in Greece

Maritina Stavrakaki,Katerina Biniari

doi:10.15835/nbha45210757

Abstract

Twenty-one grapevine varieties grown all over Greece and belonging to ‘Mavroudia’ group were ampelographically described and genotyped by AFLP molecular analysis in order to discriminate the varieties, synonyms, homonyms and variations of the group. In most cases, the molecular findings confirmed the results of the ampelographic description. In general, and despite the high degree of genetic similarity between certain pairs of the studied cultivars, the group of ‘Mavroudia’ was characterized as being heterogeneous. From the studied cultivars, ‘Kountoura mavri’, ‘Mavro Spetson’ and ‘Pappoudes’ showed very high degree of genetic similarity, sustaining the hypothesis that the last two are clones of the first. Grapevine cultivar ‘Pappoudes’ was for the first time ampelographically described and identified as being closely related to ‘Kountoura mavri’. High degree of genetic similarity was observed between cultivars ‘Gaidouricha’ and ‘Agiomavritiko’, suggesting that they probably originated from the same parent variety through the accumulation of mutations. This may also be true for cultivars ‘Mavrokorakas’ and ‘Kartsiotis’. Also, the results from the statistical analysis showed that ‘Mavro Arachovis’, ‘Mavroudi Voulgarias’ and ‘Voulgaroudes’, despite the relatively high genetic similarity between them, are different. The same applies for the rest of the cultivars studied, while ‘Mavro Kalavriton’, the most widespread variety of the ‘Mavroudia’ group, showed the lowest degree of genetic similarity within the all the cultivars studied. The ampelographic description in combination with the molecular method AFLP are effective for the study of the between and within genetic diversity of grapevine cultivars as well as for their identification and discrimination.

Highlights

The Greek vineyard is characterized, despite its relatively small size, by varietal richness and by a land area of cultivation that is relatively large
The objective of the present study was the identification and the discrimination of grapevine varieties, synonyms, homonyms and variations of the extremely heterogeneous group under the generic name ‘Mavroudia’ which are cultivated in Greece using the combination of both the ampelographic description and the molecular method AFLP
OIV Ampelographic Descriptor Evaluation According to the PC analysis, which transforms the original data set (OIV descriptors) into a smaller set of uncorrelated new variables (Principal Components, where eigenvalues was bigger than 1), nine (9) components have been produced in a decline series of their importance, explaining 86.9 % of the total variability among the different cultivars

Summary

Introduction

The Greek vineyard is characterized, despite its relatively small size, by varietal richness and by a land area of cultivation that is relatively large (approx. 110000 ha, of which 70000 ha yield wine grapes). The word ‘Mavroudi’ is often followed by a specific characteristic of the berry (‘Mavroudi chondrorago’, ‘Mavroudi psilorago’), of the must (‘Mavrostifo’) or the name of the region of origin (‘Mavroudi Nemeas’, ‘Mavroudi’ or ‘Mavro Arachovis’ etc.). Due to this conventional criterion of the color of the skin, many Greek black/red wine grapevine cultivars are included in this large group, and at least until the end of 1970 the most famous among them being ‘Agiorgitiko’ (aka ‘Mavroudi Nemeas’, ‘Mavro Nemeas’), ‘Xinomavro’ (aka ‘Mavro Naoussas’, ‘Popolka’) and ‘Mavrodafni’

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion