TY  - EJOU
AU  - Pérez-Álvarez, Sandra 
AU  - Héctor-Ardisana, Eduardo Fidel 
AU  - Castro, Eduardo Sandoval 
AU  - Ochoa-Chaparro, Erick H. 
AU  - Uranga-Valencia, Luisa Patricia 

TI  - Advances in Grapevine Breeding: Integrating Traditional Selection, Genomic Tools, and Gene Editing Technologies
T2  - Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany

PY  - 2025
VL  - 94
IS  - 12
SN  - 1851-5657

AB  - Grape (<i>Vitis vinifera</i> 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 <i>V. vinifera</i> 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 <i>Plasmopara viticola</i> (Rpv) and 15 to <i>Erysiphe necator</i> (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 <i>P. viticola</i>, 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.
KW  - Breeding programs; genomics; marker-assisted selection; sustainable production; <i>Vitis vinifera</i> L

DO  - 10.32604/phyton.2025.072135