Propagation and Conservation of Heritage Grapevines – Vitis vinifera Pinot Gris ‘Gray Monk’

Cold temperatures in January 2024 devastated vineyards in the Okanagan and commercial vineyards responded by pulling out damaged vines. Surprisingly, in mid-June latent buds were observed on some of the cold-damaged grapevines. In collaboration with the vineyard team at Gray Monk Winery and Andrew Peller Estates, a MSc student in Sustainability at UBC Okanagan proposes to work to understand the impacts of the cold damage and climate resilience in Vitis vinifera L. Pinot Gris ‘Gray Monk’. The subvarietal ‘Gray Monk’ was planted in 1977 and the objective of the vineyard is a replanting program for expansion and conservation of their brand type. We propose to use plant tissue culture protocols to produce sufficient vines for replanting. Mass propagation of the vines requires that we select the appropriate explant tissue with the potential to regenerate, optimize of the culture media to establish a small number of clean maternal stock plants, induce of new shoots and roots, graft scions onto rootstocks and then acclimatization of the young vines for outdoor planting. Our preliminary data indicate that melatonin and serotonin are indoleamine plant growth regulators (IPGRs) that increase the rates of survival, regeneration and shoot proliferation in grapevines. We hypothesize that IPGRs enhance plant cell survival through detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This research program will determine the role(s) of IPGR in grapevine resilience and regeneration and will provide maternal stock plants for commercial propagation and replanting.

Faculty Supervisor:

Susan Murch

Student:

Partner:

Andrew Peller Limited

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program: