The ancestral grapevine Vitis Vinifera ssp. sylvestris of the mediterranean basin as A source of wine yeasts

The wild vine Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris (Gmelin) Hegi is considered as the parental generation of today’s cultivars. Urbanization, industrialization of territories, 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. Although numerous studies about the current health status of this species have been carried out, at best of our knowledge, the yeast population of the grape-berry surface has not been investigated yet. The present work focused on the study of yeast occurrence and diversity on grape samples collected from wild vines. The sampling plan was carried out in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Italy, Romania and Spain. Fifty species, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae were recognized by 26S rDNA D1/D2 domain and ITS region sequencing. In all, 163 different genotypes were obtained by SSR-PCR analysis. Final outputs allowed both to obtain a more precise information about yeast communities and to provide an objective framework for the classification of the broadest range of species according to their extinction risk. In conclusion, this study highlights that the biodiversity potential of pristine environments still represents a fascinating source of attractive yeast strains that, for their biotechnological potential, could offer new opportunities to face common problems in winemaking.