Molecular tools for assessing genetic diversity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in the grapevine cultivar aglianico del vulture typical of South Italy

Abstract

In grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.,), cultivar identification problems have frequently been solved using ampelographic and chemical analysis. However, these methods result in several ambiguities, particularly when different clones of the same cultivar have to be identified. The availability of reliable and reproducible tools to identify genetic differences at clonal level would facilitate the classification of clones and cultivars. At the same time, molecular tools are also well developed in order to classify the autochthonous yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) isolated in the area of Aglianico del Vulture cultivation. In this work, six vineyards of the ancient cultivar Aglianico del Vulture and 60 Saccharomyces sensu stricto strains were characterised. Molecular tools such as RAPD-polymerase chain reaction analysis, microsatellites, amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis and AFLP analysis were applied in order to study the genetic variability among the vineyards of Aglianico del Vulture and among the S. cerevisiae isolates. The molecular markers revealed different fingerprinting patterns on either grapevine or S. cerevisiae strains. The genetic differences detected in yeast and plant would represent the genetic variability usable for a selection of the best plant–yeast combination in order to preserve the typical Aglianico del Vulture wine features.