Abstract
Several factors may affect the success of a replanting vineyard. Given the current environmental conditions, an optimized irrigation schedule would still be one of the most desirable tools to improve crop productivity and fruit quality. On the other hand, the symbiosis of grapevines with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) is a key component of the vineyard production systems improving the vine growth, nutrient uptake, and berry quality. The aim of this study was to characterize the response of Merlot grapevines to AMF inoculation and two different irrigation amounts in their first productive year. The experiment was conducted on 2-year Merlot grapevines inoculated with AMF (I) or not-inoculated (NI) and subjected to two irrigation amounts, full irrigated (FI), where the amount of water was enough to maintain expansive growth and half irrigated (HI) where plants received the half of the amount of water of FI plants. Water status, gas exchange parameters, growth, mineral content, berry composition, and mycorrhizal colonization were monitored through the season. AMF inoculation improved the grapevine vegetative growth, water status, and photosynthetic activity, especially when vines were subjected to HI irrigation; however, no effect was observed on the leaf mineral content, must pH, total soluble solids, or total acidity. The main effects were observed on the flavonoid composition of berry skins at harvest. Irrigation amounts and mycorrhizal inoculation modified cyanidin and peonidin derivatives whereas flavonol composition was mainly affected by irrigation treatments. A strong relationship between the mycorrhizal colonization rate of roots and total quercetins, cyanidins, and peonidins was found. Findings support the use of a mycorrhizal inoculum and a better water management in a hyper-arid growing season; however, these results may be affected by edaphoclimatic characteristics and living microbiota in vineyard soils, which should be taken into account before making the decision of inoculating the vineyard.
Highlights
Grapevine is an economically important crop worldwide with a global surface area of 7.45 million ha, which is mainly cultivated for wine making
The mycorrhizal colonization intensity was analyzed (Supplementary Figure 1) after 3 months of treatment application to ensure the establishment of the mycorrhizal symbiosis, which frequently take place after 2–4 months of inoculation
Current research aimed to study how Merlot grapevines responded to Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation and different water amounts in their first productive year in situ
Summary
Grapevine is an economically important crop worldwide with a global surface area of 7.45 million ha, which is mainly cultivated for wine making. The application of mycorrhizal inocula has emerged as a reliable technique to enhance the agricultural productivity whereas reducing environmental costs (Berruti et al, 2016; Hamilton et al, 2016). These commercial inoculants consist of a single or few AM fungal isolates grown in plant culture or greenhouse conditions with annual grasses or forbs (Gianinazzi and Vosátka, 2004), they might not establish on woody grapevines that have different ecosystem preferences (Holland et al, 2018). Rootstock genotype and type of inoculum could influence the effectiveness of mycorrhizal inoculation and the response of young vines to the environment (Holland et al, 2018)
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