Rootstock genetics & improvement - tolerance to abiotic stress

Heat, drought and salinity are abiotic stressors facing many Australian grapegrowers. Climate modelling for southern Australia suggests that these stressors are likely to increase in the coming decades. To help counter this, the major objective of this project is to develop tools for selecting and breeding grapevine rootstocks with better resilience to abiotic stress. The project will use gene identification technologies and functional characterisation and marker assisted breeding, together with advanced phenotypic screening methods, to develop better rootstocks with enduring resistance to salt, heat and drought.