Downy mildew resistance in grape

Breeding & selecting cold-hardy vines with durable resistance

Viticulture Resistance breeding NGS markers Field phenotyping

Overview

Powdery mildew is a major constraint in cool-climate viticulture, including here in Flanders. In this project we collaborate with an innovative grapevine breeder from Borgloon to develop vines that combine durable mildew resistance with high-quality traits. By linking field performance to genetic markers, we aim to accelerate the breeding of resilient, cold-hardy grape varieties that can thrive in sustainable vineyards.

What we will do

Field phenotyping of grape collections in cold climates
Controlled inoculations to benchmark resistance
Marker-assisted screening of resistance loci using rhAmpSeq marker panel
International collaboration with researchers from Cornell University (USDA) and vitisgen3 project

Monitoring & verification

We screen for powdery mildew resistance genes in grapevine collections. By combining and stacking multiple resistance loci, we aim to achieve durable, long-term protection against mildew in cold-climate viticulture.

Outcomes

Shortlist of cold-hardy, mildew-resistant genotypes
Marker sets linked to field resistance
Scale-up plan: nursery validation → grower pilots

Mildew resistance grape project results — Minion DNA-sequencing device.

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Interested to know more about the vitisgen3 project: vitisgen3/.