(Wines&Vines) - Sometimes it seems as if a new pest or disease threatens California grapevines every week, but many tools are available to fight them. Three experts discussed some of the most promising approaches for fighting vineyard pests at the Napa Valley Grapegrowers’ Rootstock conference held Nov. 12

The title of the panel discussion was “The Future of Genomics and Genetic Tools for Grapevines,” and it featured Carole Meredith, professor emerita at the University of California, Davis, and co-owner of Lagier Meredith Vineyard on Mount Veeder in Napa County; Andy Walker, professor at UC Davis, and Marc Fuchs, associate professor at Cornell University.

The session was moderated by winemaker Aaron Pott, who discussed the popular fear of changes like genetic engineering but pointed out how improved grapevines could offer the possibility of eliminating the use of pesticides, reducing irrigation and overcoming climate changes.

Of course, a fundamental question is, “Why change grapevines?” They are well established, and some have proven very popular.

Researchers want to improve grape vines for a number of reasons including solving a problem like susceptibility to pests or diseases, and to overcome environmental limitations like climate, water shortages and degradation by salts in the soil.

Researchers also can seek to improve grape quality, increase yield or meet market demand.

Meredith started the discussion with an overview of genetics and genomics. Genetics is the study of individual genes or parts of genes, while genomics is more holistic, involving the study of all the genes of an organism (the genome) and their interrelationships to identify their combined influence on growth and development.

There are three components of genomics: DNA sequencing, bioinformatics and recombinant DNA. Genetics involves a huge amount of data, so the development of inexpensive computing power has been fundamental.

The tools used in genetics include:

• DNA sequencing

• Bioinformatics

• Markers

• Genome mapping

• Gene identification

• Gene expression

• Recombinant DNA

• Marker-assisted selection

Meredith added that while methods have become more refined over time, genetic modification is as old as agriculture. Farmers have selected clones using the variation that is naturally present in plant varieties, and they’ve also crossed another grape variety or grape species with different traits.