Open Access

REVIEW

Advances in Grapevine Breeding: Integrating Traditional Selection, Genomic Tools, and Gene Editing Technologies

Sandra Pérez-Álvarez^1,*, Eduardo Fidel Héctor-Ardisana², Eduardo Sandoval Castro³, Erick H. Ochoa-Chaparro⁴, Luisa Patricia Uranga-Valencia¹

1 Facultad de Ciencias Agrícolas y Forestales, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Km 2.5 Carretera a Rosales, Campus Delicias, Delicias, C.P. 33000, Chihuahua, Mexico
2 Facultad de Posgrado, Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Portoviejo, 130105, Ecuador
3 Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CIIDIR Unidad Sinaloa, Blvd. Juan de Dios Bátiz-Paredes 250, San Joachín, Guasave, C.P. 81101, Sinaloa, Mexico
4 Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo (CIAD), Unidad Delicias, Av. Cuarta Sur 3828, Fracc. Vencedores del Desierto, Delicias, C.P. 33089, Chihuahua, Mexico

* Corresponding Author: Sandra Pérez-Álvarez. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Adaptation Mechanisms of Grapevines to Growing Environments and Agricultural Strategies)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2025, 94(12), 3749-3803. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2025.072135

Received 20 August 2025; Accepted 07 November 2025; Issue published 29 December 2025

Abstract

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivation has progressed from early domestication and clonal propagation to modern, data-driven breeding that is reshaping viticulture and wine quality. Yet climatic and biotic constraints still impose heavy losses—downy mildew can reduce yields by ≈75% in humid regions and gray mold by 20–50%—sustaining the need for resistant cultivars. Producer selection, interspecific crossing, and formal improvement programs have generated ~10,000 varieties, although only a few dozen dominate global acreage. Conventional breeding has delivered fungus-resistant “PIWI” cultivars that retain ≥85% of the V. vinifera genome; in Austria, national PIWI varieties are gaining acceptance for combined resistance to downy and powdery mildew and strong enological quality, while in Brazil, using ‘BRS Isis’ as a male parent produced a high proportion of seedless progeny. Over the past two decades, mapping studies have identified >30 resistance loci to Plasmopara viticola (Rpv) and 15 to Erysiphe necator (Ren/Run), enabling MAS and locus pyramiding; widely deployed loci include Rpv1, Rpv3 haplotypes, Rpv10, Rpv12, Run1, Ren1, Ren3, and Ren9. Gene editing further expands options: CRISPR knockout of VvMLO3 confers powdery-mildew resistance, whereas VvPR4b knockout increases susceptibility to P. viticola, highlighting both opportunity and gene-specific risk. To date, no consolidated program- or country-level percentages exist for MAS/CRISPR adoption in grape. Instead, proxy indicators—MAS screening throughput, the number of programs employing MAS, and CRISPR’s laboratory/pilot status with no commercial releases—suggest broad operational MAS and early-stage CRISPR implementation; for example, Germany reported >23 disease-resistant grapevine varieties developed with MAS and the loci above by 2022. Finally, this review analyzes the future of grapevine breeding, with a particular emphasis on the adoption of novel approaches to multi-omics, AI in breeding models, and sustainability for improving breeding schemes. An interdisciplinary effort will be required to find future solutions, as viticulture has entered a precision breeding revolution to address the challenges posed by the industry and the fight for long-term sustainability of grape production.

---

Keywords

---