Drought will not leave your glass empty: Low risk of hydraulic failure revealed by long-term drought observations in world’s top wine regions

Guillaume Charrier (1) , Sylvain Delzon (2) , Jean-Christophe Domec (3) , Li Zhang (1) , Chloe E. L. Delmas (4) , Isabelle Merlin (1) , Déborah Corso (2) , Andrew King , Hernan Ojeda , Nathalie Ollat , Jorge A. Prieto , Thibaut Scholach , Paul Skinner , Cornelis van Leeuwen (1) , Grégory Gambetta (1)

1 UMR EGFV - Ecophysiologie et Génomique Fonctionnelle de la Vigne
2 BioGeCo - Biodiversité, Gènes & Communautés
3 UMR ISPA - Interactions Sol Plante Atmosphère
4 UMR SAVE - Santé et agroécologie du vignoble

Grapevines are crops of global economic importance that will face increasing drought stress because many varieties are described as highly sensitive to hydraulic failure as frequency and intensity of summer drought increase. We developed and used novel approaches to define water stress thresholds for preventing hydraulic failure, which were compared to the drought stress experienced over a decade in two of the world’s top wine regions, Napa and Bordeaux. We identified the physiological thresholds for drought-induced mortality in stems and leaves and found small intervarietal differences. Long-term observations in Napa and Bordeaux revealed that grapevines never reach their lethal water-potential thresholds under seasonal droughts, owing to a vulnerability segmentation promoting petiole embolism and leaf mortality. Our findings will aid farmers in reducing water use without risking grapevine hydraulic integrity.

Mots clés: Vigne; Vitis Vinifera; Adaptation à la sécheresse; Stress hydrique; Conduite hydraulique

Domaines: Biologie végétale

Guillaume Charrier, Sylvain Delzon, Jean-Christophe Domec, Li Zhang, Chloe E. L. Delmas, et al.. Drought will not leave your glass empty: Low risk of hydraulic failure revealed by long-term drought observations in world’s top wine regions. Science Advances , 2018, 4 (1), pp.1-9. ⟨10.1126/sciadv.aao6969⟩. ⟨hal-02538219⟩