Recent advances in biotechnological studies on wild grapevines as valuable resistance sources for smart viticulture

Cultivated grapevines, Vitis vinifera subsp. sativa, are thought to have been domesticated from wild populations of Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris in Central Asia. V. vinifera subsp. sativa is one of the most economically important fruit crops worldwide. Since cultivated grapevines are susceptible to multiple biotic and abiotic soil factors, they also need to be grafted on resistant rootstocks that are mostly developed though hybridization between American wild grapevine species (V. berlandieri, V. riparia, and V. rupestris). Therefore, wild grapevine species are essential genetic materials for viticulture to face biotic and abiotic stresses in both cultivar and rootstock parts. Actually, viticulture faces several environmental constraints that are further intensified by climate change. Recently, several reports on biotic and abiotic stresses-response in wild grapevines revealed accessions tolerant to different constraints. The emergence of advanced techniques such as omics technologies, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and functional analysis tools allowed a more detailed characterization of resistance mechanisms in these wild grapevines and suggest a number of species (V. rotundifolia, V. rupestris, V. riparia, V. berlandieri and V. amurensis) have untapped potential for new resistance traits including disease resistance loci and key tolerance genes. The present review reports on the importance of different biotechnological tools in exploring and examining wild grapevines tolerance mechanisms that can be employed to promote elite cultivated grapevines under climate change conditions.