PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Maja Žulj Mihaljević
AU  - Ulrike C. M. Anhalt
AU  - Ernst Rühl
AU  - Milena Tomić Mugoša
AU  - Vesna Maraš
AU  - Astrid Forneck
AU  - Goran Zdunić
AU  - Darko Preiner
AU  - Ivan Pejić
TI  - Cultivar Identity, Intravarietal Variation, and Health Status of Native Grapevine Varieties in Croatia and Montenegro
AID  - 10.5344/ajev.2015.15023
DP  - 2015 Sep 03
TA  - American Journal of Enology and Viticulture
PG  - ajev.2015.15023
4099  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2015/08/31/ajev.2015.15023.short
4100  - http://www.ajevonline.org/content/early/2015/08/31/ajev.2015.15023.full
AB  - Croatia and Montenegro (southeast Europe) host numerous native (autochthonous) minor grapevine varieties (Vitis vinifera L.) that might irreversibly disappear in the near future due to limited conservation efforts and lack of virus-free propagation material. To prevent their disappearance and help their sustainability, a collaborative project was launched to gather and evaluate extremely rare and neglected native grapevine genotypes through establishment of true-to-type and virus-tested stock material, “ready to use” for nurseries. Through several field expeditions, 284 grapevine accessions that were collected in 22 different locations in Croatia and Montenegro were subjected to ampelographic in situ description, genetic identification by nine SSR markers, serological testing for the presence of common grape viruses, and intravarietal variability assessment by S-SAP markers. Fifty-three unique SSR profiles were revealed, of which 25 genotypes were previously unpublished and thus worthy of further research. Comparison of these genetic profiles to some very rare and poorly described accessions within the European Vitis Database and other published studies revealed several unknown synonyms and homonyms which helped properly name some profiles and provided novel information on the history of these cultivars and their distribution in the region. Virus testing revealed high frequency of infection with the GLRaV-3 and GLRaV-1 viruses and proved the urgent need for sanitary selection. Assessment of intravarietal variation showed the presence of accumulated mutations, which strongly suggests a need for clonal selection.