The Grapevine and Wine Microbiome: Insights from High-Throughput Amplicon Sequencing

Area of Science:

• Microbial Ecology
• Oenology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Microbial ecology of vineyards, grapes, and wine has been studied using culture-based methods.
• DNA-based fingerprinting techniques (DGGE, SSCP, T-RFLP, ARISA) revolutionized microbial examination by enabling cultivation-independent analysis.
• These fingerprinting methods offered rapid microbial profiling but lacked taxonomic resolution and struggled to detect rare taxa.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the impact of high-throughput sequencing and metagenomics on vineyard microbial ecology.
• To highlight the contribution of these advanced methods in understanding grapevine and wine microbiomes.
• To explore how vineyard management practices influence microbial diversity.

Main Methods:

• Review of studies employing DNA-based community fingerprinting methods.
• Analysis of research utilizing high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and metagenomics.
• Focus on cultivation-independent molecular techniques for microbial community assessment.

Main Results:

• High-throughput sequencing methods have significantly advanced the in-depth assessment of the grapevine and wine microbiome.
• These techniques reveal considerably greater microbial diversity than previously reported.
• Several novel microbial species associated with vineyards and wine have been identified.

Conclusions:

• High-throughput sequencing and metagenomics are powerful tools for comprehensive microbiome analysis in viticulture.
• These approaches provide unprecedented insights into microbial diversity and dynamics.
• Understanding the microbiome is key to unraveling the influence of vineyard management on grape and wine quality.