Molecular tools for assessing genetic diversity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in the grapevine cultivar Aglianico del Vulture typical from South Italy

In grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.,) , cultivar identification problems have frequently been
solved using ampelographic and chemical analysis. However, these methods result in several
ambiguities particularly when different clones of the same cultivar have to be identified. The
availability of reliable and reproducible tools to identify genetic differences at clonal level would
facilitate the classification of clones and cultivars. At the same time, molecular tools are also well
developed in order to classify the autochthonous yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)
isolated in the area of Aglianico del Vulture cultivation. In this work, six vineyards of the ancient
cultivar Aglianico del Vulture and 60 Saccharomyces sensu stricto strains were characterised.
Molecular tools such as RAPD-polymerase chain reaction analysis, microsatellites, amplifed
ribosomal DNA restriction analysis and AFLP analysis were applied in order to study the genetic
variability among the vineyards of Aglianico del Vulture and among the S. cerevisiae isolates.
The molecular markers revealed different fingerprinting patterns on either grapevine or
S. cerevisiae strains. The genetic differences detected in yeast and plant would represent the
genetic variability usable for a selection o f the best plant yeast combination in order to preserve
the typical Aglianico del Vulture wine features.