Agriculture & Food / Ian Dry – La Platina

Next Generation Vineyards – Dr. Ian Dry, group leader Winegrapes & Horticulture CSIRO

13th of September 2017, Auditorium INIA, La Platina

The CSIRO Winegrapes & Horticulture group is based at the Waite Campus in Adelaide, South Australia, in the heart of the wine regions of Australia. The group carries out an investigation across different areas related to the production of grapes, including:

• Reproduction of stems for better resistance to the pathogen of rust and enhanced quality.
• The breeding of patterns for greater tolerance to abiotic stresses and pests from the roots.
• Regulating ripening and fruit composition.
• Genetic and chemical base of the flavor and aroma of the grape and wine.
• Digital tools for the management of the vineyard.

The WG & H of CSIRO group was the first to identify the mutant “microvine” gai (Boss and Thomas 2002 Nature 416, 847-850), which is now used for rapid genetic studies and assisted crops by markers in small controlled environments (Chaib et al. 2010 Plant J. 62, 1083-1092). Also were the first, in collaboration with colleagues from INRIA in France, in successfully producing transgenic varieties of premium wine grapes, dynamometer and downy mildew resistant (Feechan et al. Plant J. 76: 661-674).

Dr Ian Dry’s seminar gave an overview of current research strategies that are being implemented by the WG & H group for developing new germplasm and tools to assist Australian grape farmers for the challenges that are presented by climatic factors, increasing production costs and pressure to reduce the environmental footprint of the production of grapes.