David Maghradze

• Dr of Agricultural Sciences
• Head of Department at Institute of Horticulture, Viticulture and Oenology

Mgaloblishvili, a grapevine variety from Georgia (Southern Caucasus), exhibits a unique resistance mechanism against downy mildew. Mgaloblishvili resistance mechanism, involving pathogen recognition, activation of ethylene signalling pathway, structural and chemical defences, is mediated by the resistance loci Rpv29, Rpv30, and Rpv31. Mgaloblishvil...

Repeated expeditions across various regions of Georgia in the early 2000s led to the identification of 434 wild grapevine individuals (Vitis vinifera L. subsp. sylvestris (C.C. Gmel.) Hegi) across 127 different sites, with 45% of these sites containing only a single vine and only 7% more than 9 vines. A total of 70 accessions were propagated in a g...

By exploring seed samples from vineyards and natural habitats across the Eurasian range of Vitis vinifera, our analysis revealed substantial morphological variation within populations. Through the analysis of domestication index values, probabilities, and entropy, we assessed seed diversity. Samples with high domestication probability values—predom...

The wild grapevines of Georgia and the South Caucasus in general are of great interest because of their relationship to the history of grapevine cultivation. Grape seeds provide information of interest about the characteristics and origin of the plant that produces them. The use of classical morphometric techniques, together with the use of combine...

Plasmopara viticola (Berk. & M. A. Curtis) Berl. & De Toni, the causal agent of downy mildew, affects both cultivated and wild grapevine. Wild species of the genus Vitis L. are reliable sources of resistance to many of the diseases that affect cultivated grapevines. For this reason, it is important to study wildly growing (typical wild and feral) a...

Grape powdery mildew, caused by Erysiphe necator Schwein, poses a significant threat to widely cultivated Vitis vinifera L., leading to environmental and health concerns due to the prevalent use of fungicides. To address this, researchers are exploring the development of resistant grapevine varieties through crossbreeding with American Vitaceae. Ho...

Characterizing plant genetic resources and understanding the domestication process are key challenges in horticulture. This study focuses on the common grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), employing molecular, ampelographic, and morphometric techniques to explore its domestication syndrome. We propose a combined domestication index for grape seeds, integ...

About Nikalaj Vavilov

Among the main challenges in current viticulture, there is the increasing demand for sustainability in the protection from fungal diseases, such as downy mildew (DM) and powdery mildew (PM). Breeding disease-resistant grapevine varieties is a key strategy for better managing fungicide inputs. This study explores the diversity of grapevine germplasm...

Context and purpose of the study Erysiphe necator Schwein is a fungus that causes grapevine powdery mildew. It is one of the most problematic pathogens attacking Vitis vinifera L. The pathogen infects all green parts of the plant and reduces grape yield and quality. The suppression on mildew-susceptible cultivars requires intensive use of fungicide...

The expeditions, organized during last years in Georgia, demonstrated the presence of some biodiversity of wildly growing Euroasian grapevine (V. vinifera L.). This diversity contains wild grapevine V. vinifera ssp. sylvestris Gmel., feral cultivated grape varieties V. vinifera ssp. sativa DC. and intermediate (transitional) genotypes between wild...

The present paper focuses on the presence of symptoms caused by parasitic species in samples of Eurasian grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) belonging to different herbaria from , and the . In the Spanish case herbaria were collected by Clemente at the beginning of the 19th century and preserved at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid. This material was...

We elucidate grapevine evolution and domestication histories with 3525 cultivated and wild accessions worldwide. In the Pleistocene, harsh climate drove the separation of wild grape ecotypes caused by continuous habitat fragmentation. Then, domestication occurred concurrently about 11,000 years ago in Western Asia and the Caucasus to yield table an...

Microbial diversity in vineyards and in grapes has generated significant scientific interest. From a biotechnological perspective, vineyard and grape biodiversity has been shown to impact soil, vine, and grape health and to determine the fermentation microbiome and the final character of wine. Thus, an understanding of the drivers that are responsi...

Wild grapevine Vitis vinifera ssp. silvestris Gmel. is considered to be an ancestral plant for cultivated grapevine Vitis vinifera subsp. sativa D.C.. It is a typical representative of Georgian flora and it was widely spread almost on all the territory of the Country in the past. It is a part of the Eurasian wild grapevine population and has si...

Background and Aims Condensed tannins, responsible for berry and wine astringency, may have been selected during grapevine domestication (Narduzzi et al., 2015). This work examines the phylogenetic distribution of condensed tannins throughout the Vitaceae phylogenetic tree. Methods Green berries and mature leaves of representative true-to-type mem...

The study of wildly growing grapevines has an important place in the history of viticulture in Europe, as well as in Georgia. This interest is due to the attempt to explain the domestication processes of the European vineVitis vinifera L. and to clarify the origins of cultivated varieties in the context of centuries-old development of viticulture....

Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris (Gmelin) Hegi is recognized as the dioecious parental generation of today’s cultivars. Climatic change and the arrival of pathogens and pests in Europe led it to be included on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species in 1997. The present work focused on the study of...

PREAMBOLO In Georgiano moderno, "vino" si scrive ღვინო e si pronuncia "ghvino". I linguisti sono concordi nell'identificare un'origine comune del termine vino nelle lingue europee e dell'Asia occidentale (Aspesi, 2013). Tra le numerose ipotesi sull'etimologia della parola "vino", quella che sembra più consistente rispetto alle conoscenze sull'origi...

The Eurasian grapevine ( Vitis vinifera ), a species cultivated worldwide for high-quality wine production, is extremely susceptible to the agent of downy mildew, Plasmopara viticola . Nevertheless, germplasm from Georgia (Southern Caucasus, the first grapevine domestication centre), characterized by a high genetic variability, showed resistance tr...

This book is a collaborative work of researchers from Italy and Georgia dedicated to analyzing the recent climatic situation of Georgia, evaluating the agroclimatic conditions of Georgian viticulture, and providing practical support for the viticulturist of the country the planting and managing their vineyards situated in diverse geographic locatio...

წიგნი შექმნილია იტალიელი და ქართველი მკვლევარების ერთობლივი შრომის შედეგად და ეძღვნება საქართველოს თანამედროვე კლიმატური რეალობის ანალიზს, საქართველოს მევენახეობის აგროკლიმატური პირობების შეფასებას და იძლევა პრაქტიკულ რჩევებს ქვეყნის მევენახეებისათვის როგორ დაგეგმონ და მოუარონ სხვადასხვა გეოგრაფიულ რეგიონებში განლაგებულ თავიანთ ვენახებს ისე, რომ ან...

Active research of Wild grapevine (named as ‘Krikina’ in Georgian Language) Vitis viniperasspsilvestrisGmel. in Georgia has started since the middle period of the 19th century, has been successfully proceeded in the 20th century and continues within various projects in the present days too. The plants described on the territory of Georgia by expedi...

The pip, as the most common grapevine archaeological remain, is extensively used to document past viticulture dynamics. This paper uses state of the art morphological analyses to analyse the largest reference collection of modern pips to date, representative of the present-day diversity of the domesticated grapevine from Western Eurasia. We tested...

Grapevine shoot morphology is widely studied for both ampelography and growing adaptation to environmental stresses. However, few is known concerning the relative contribution and interactions of the genotype and of the growing conditions to the vegetative growth. In this work, seven grapevine cultivars were studied in three geographically distant...

Wine has been produced in Georgia since the 6th millennium BC. The processes of cultivar selection and breeding started with wild grapes Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris Gmel. and included multiple introgression events—from the wild to domestication. This article aims at improving the knowledge concerning the history of winemaking through a compar...

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is one of the most widely cultivated plant species of agricultural interest, and is extensively appreciated for its fruits and the wines made from its fruits. Considering the high socio-economic impact of the wine sector all over the world, in recent years, there has been an increase in work aiming to investigate the biod...

The discovery of new mechanisms of resistance and natural bioactive molecules could be two of the possible ways to reduce fungicide use in vineyard and assure an acceptable and sustainable protection against Plasmopara viticola, the grapevine downy mildew agent. Emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as terpenes, norisoprenoids, alcoho...

The Near East and the Caucasus are commonly regarded as the original domestication centres of Vitis vinifera (grapevine), and the region continues to be home to a high diversity of wild and cultivated grapevines, particularly within Georgia. The earliest chemical evidence for wine making was recorded in Georgian Neolithic sites (6000–5800 bc) and g...

Grapevine domestication took place in the Caucasus area known as the Cradle of Viticulture, within or near the geographical area known as the Vavilov Triangle. The phytogenetic resources of Vitis sylvestris C.C.Gmel. have been previously collected and characterized, but the study on micro vinifications of wild grapevines from the Caucasus is new.In...

Plasmopara viticola (Berk. et Curt.) Berl. and de Toni, the agent of downy mildew, is one of the most important pathogens of European grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). Extensive evaluation of cultivated grapevine germplasm has highlighted the existence of resistant phenotypes in the Georgian (Southern Caucasus) germplasm. Resistance is shown as a redu...

In this article are provided the data of phenological stages of development for 43 accessions of wild grapevine Vitis vinifera ssp. silvestris (C.C.Gmel.) Hegi in Jughaura collection (the FAO code is GEO038, owned by the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture) during 2019: the tested accessions are originated from different regions of Georgia. T...

Mgaloblishvili, a Vitis vinifera cultivar, exhibits unique resistance traits against Plasmopara viticola, the downy mildew agent. This offers the unique opportunity of exploring the molecular responses in compatible and incompatible plant-pathogen interaction. In this study, whole transcriptomes of Mgaloblishvili, Pinot noir (a V. vinifera suscepti...

The growth and development of grapevine is constrained by temperature, affecting the bulk of physiological processes of the plant. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of climate change on thermal resources and limitations in the context of Georgia, one of the oldest viticultural areas in the world. The analysis on daily series of temp...

წიგნი წარმოადგენს ცნობილი აგრონომის ვლადიმერ სტაროსელკის მიერ 1893 წელს რუსულ ენაზე გამოქaვეყნებული ნაშრომის „ქუთაისის გუბერნიის შორაპნისა და ქუთაისის მაზრების ვაზის ჯიშები“ მეორე გამოცემას ქართულ და რუსულ ენებ- ზე. მასში მოცემულია 11 იმერული ჯიშის დახასიათება თანდართული ილუსტრა- ციებით. ეს არის საქართველოში გამოცემული პირველი ამპელოგრაფიული წიგნი,...

Plasmopara viticola (Berk. & M. A. Curtis) Berl. & De Toni is a biotrophic pathogen which causes disease - downy mildew grapevine. The disease is causing important economic losses of European cultivated grapevine (Vitis vinifera L) worldwide. Different species and cultivars of grapevine have different resistance toward disease but it has to be men...

One of the results of the “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture” promoted by the National Wine Agency of the Republic of Georgia was the production of a bilingual handbook for modern viticulture. The first sections of the handbook were devoted to the agrometeorological analysis of environmental resources and limitation...

This communication will provide the latest information about the progress of the “Research Project for the Study of Georgian Grapes and Wine Culture”, managed by the National Wine Agency of Georgia since 2014. Local and foreign institutions continue to work together with the aim of stimulating multidisciplinary scientific research activity on Georg...

The grapevine intra-specific variability captured an increasing interest during the last decades, as demonstrated by the number of recently funded European projects focused on the grapevine biodiversity preservation. However, nowadays, crop plants are mainly characterized by genotyping methods. The present work summarizes the phenotype data collect...

წიგნი წარმოადგენს ცნობილი ქართველი აგრონომის ერმილე ნაკაშიძის მიერ 1929 წელს გამოქვეყნებული ნაშრომის „მევენახეობა - მეღვინეობა გურია-სამეგრელოში, აჭარაში და აფხაზეთში“ მეორე გამოცემას, რომელშიც განხილულია დასავლეთ საქართველოს რეგიონების - გურიის, სამეგრელოს, აჭარისა და აფხაზეთის - მევენახეობისა და მეღვინეობის ისტორიული ფაქტები, ტრადიციები, ვაზის ჯი...

წიგნი წარმოადგენს ცნობილი ქართველი აგრონომის ერმილე ნაკაშიძის მიერ 1929 წელს გამოქვეყნებული ნაშრომის „მევენახეობა - მეღვინეობა გურია-სამეგრელოში, აჭარაში და აფხაზეთში“ მეორე გამოცემას, რომელშიც განხილულია დასავლეთ საქართველოს რეგიონების - გურიის, სამეგრელოს, აჭარისა და აფხაზეთის - მევენახეობისა და მეღვინეობის ისტორიული ფაქტები, ტრადიციები, ვაზის ჯი...

Georgia is one of the oldest country of the World in which the history of wine making and viticulture began 8000 years ago. The country owns 525 autochthonous varieties of grapes taking the starting point from the wild grape Vitis vinifera ssp sylvestris Gmel. That is why the investigation of the wild grapevine has crucial purpose to learn biodiver...

The Eurasian grapevine (Vitis vinifera), an Old World species now cultivated worldwide for high-quality wine production, is extremely susceptible to the agent of downy mildew, Plasmopara viticola. The cultivation of resistant V. vinifera varieties would be a sustainable way to reduce the damage caused by the pathogen and the impact of disease manag...

Georgia is one of the oldest country of the World in which the history of wine making and viticulture began 8000 years ago. The country owns 525 autochthonous varieties of grapes taking the starting point from the wild grape Vitis vinifera ssp sylvestris Gmel.. That is why the investigation of the wild grapevine has crucial purpose to learn biodive...

Georgia is one of the oldest country of the World in which the history of wine making and viticulture began 8000 years ago. The country owns 525 autochthonous varieties of grapes taking the starting point from the wild grape Vitis vinifera ssp sylvestris Gmel.. That is why the investigation of the wild grapevine has crucial purpose to learn biodive...

Background The mountainous region between the Caucasus and China is considered to be the center of domestication for grapevine. Despite the importance of Central Asia in the history of grape growing, information about the extent and distribution of grape genetic variation in this region is limited in comparison to wild and cultivated grapevines fro...

A prospecting of habitats and mechanical support host species for the climber Eurasian wild grapevine, Vitis vinifera L. subsp. sylvestris (Gmelin) Hegi, was carried out on 13 natural populations situated along river bank forests, floodplains and colluvial positions in Georgia (Marneuli, Mtskheta and Gori districts, Gardabani Protected area and Lag...

The objective of this work is to investigate the Holocenic climate cycles that may have influenced the domestication of grapevine in the Subcaucasian area and its subsequent spread in Eurasia. The analysis covered the longitudinal belt ranging from the Iberian Peninsula to Japan, seen as the preferential pathway for the Holocenic spread of grapevin...

Grapevine is a very important crop species that is mainly cultivated worldwide for fruits, wine and juice. Identification of the genetic bases of performance traits through association mapping studies requires a precise knowledge of the available diversity and how this diversity is structured and varies across the whole genome. An 18k SNP genotypin...

Eurasian wild grapewine, a threatened phytogenetic resource bound to humanity history. The present article, focused on the Eurasian wild grapevine, the dioecious parental of the present cultivars, shows the ancient uses of this vine in the past and its importance as a plant genetic resource in the genetic improvement of existing varieties and to r...

One of the steps to walnut improvement in the Georgia is the diversification of production by introduced varieties having high productivity and better fruit quality that comply with common market requirements. A study was made with 6-introduced cultivars viz., Fernette’, ‘Franquette’, ‘Hartley’, ‘Howard’, ‘Lara’ and ‘Meylanase. The results of three...

Plum local varieties and forms are widespread in all regions of Georgia. Despite the wide dissemination of this crop, the number of cultivars is not quite a lot. Due to this reason, study of cultivars has been carried out in a collection plot of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, in village Jighaura. Eight plum (Prunus domestica L.) cul...

Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South Caucasus

Significance The earliest biomolecular archaeological and archaeobotanical evidence for grape wine and viniculture from the Near East, ca. 6,000–5,800 BC during the early Neolithic Period, was obtained by applying state-of-the-art archaeological, archaeobotanical, climatic, and chemical methods to newly excavated materials from two sites in Georgia...

The increasing level of hazardous residues in the environment and food chains has led the European Union to restrict the use of chemical fungicides. Thus, exploiting new natural antagonistic microorganisms against fungal diseases could serve the agricultural production to reduce pre- and post-harvest losses, to boost safer practices for workers and...

The distribution and survival of trees during the last glacial maximum (LGM) has been of interest to paleoecologists, biogeographers, and geneticists. Ecological niche models that associate species occurrence and abundance with climatic variables are widely used to gain ecological and evolutionary insights and to predict species distributions over...

Walnut germplasm used in the study. (XLSX)

Walnut occurrence data and coordinates. Walnut occurrence data with geographic coordinates sourced from the Genetic Resources Information Network (GRIN, USDA-ARS; http://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/search.aspx) and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; http://www.gbif.org). (XLSX)

Model tuning for walnut data sets. Model tuning results for three different walnut data sets: (A) unfiltered with 237 occurrence points and two filtered data sets rarified at (B) 10 and (C) 25 km geographic resolutions with 137 and 112 occurrence points, respectively. Evaluation metrics generated from MaxEnt models with six different settings for f...

Unfiltered and filtered (25 km) ecological niche modeling of walnut distributions. AICc-selected model prediction of occurrences of walnut for current, last glacial maximum (LGM; 21–18 kyr BP), and last interglacial (LIG; 130–107 kyr BP) climatic conditions for unfiltered data set with 237 occurrence points and filtered at 25 km spatial resolutions...

Multilocus walnut genotypes data for 19 microsatellite loci. (XLSX)

Locus-wise private alleles in different geographic groups of walnut. (XLSX)

Results of model tuning for the unfiltered, filtered at 10 km, and filtered at 25 km walnut occurrence data sets. Rows in bold shows the model setting with ΔAICc = 0. (XLSX)

The roots of viticulture and winemaking in Georgia have been traced back to time immemorial: numerous archaeological fi ndings of grape seeds and other grapevine artifacts on the territory of Georgia, (the oldest one dated back to 6th-5th millennium B.C.); various archaeological and architectural monuments associated with viticulture and winemaking...

Vitis vinifera L. ssp. Sylvestris(Gmelin) Hegi is recognized as the dioecious parental generation of today's cultivars. Climatic change and the arrival in Europe of pathogens and pests have led it to be included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 1997. At best of our knowledge, no studies on microbial populations of grape-berry surfaces...

The present article is focused on the need to get in Spain a legal figure of legal preservation for the phytogenetic resource Eurasian wild grapevine, the dioecious parental of the cultivated varieties. It shows its different habitats in the Iberian Peninsula. The main ampelographical characteristics of these grapevines and their sanitary status ar...

Different varieties of European grapevine (Vitis vinifera L) are characterized with different resistance to Downy mildew (Piasmopara viticola). The aim of the work was to study resistance of 42 Georgian grapevine varieties to disease causing agent. The assessment of cultivars was made by observation of disease development in natural conditions (at...