Cell death in grape berries: causes, consequences, and control

Berry shrivel is a phenomenon of weight loss in berries during the late ripening stage attributed to dehydration and loss of berry cell vitality that results in losses of yield, quality and profitability.

This project investigates the causes and impact of berry cell death in wine grapes which will:

• Enable better prediction of cell death at different developmental stages leading to berry shrivel,
• Enable cost-effective mitigation strategies related to berry and canopy cooling techniques, canopy management, and/or clonal/rootstock combinations,
• Explore preliminary results linking greater cell death and berry shrivel with metal ion concentration, specifically copper and iron; and
• Provide the means to rapidly measure the onset of cell death and berry shrivel in berries in the vineyard.