Research Update


She’s getting to the root of drought tolerance


UBC-O scientist working to improve the suitability of grape rootstocks to dry-climate conditions.


By Judie Steeves D


espite the fact the Okanagan Valley has a near-desert climate, none of the rootstocks currently being used here by grape growers are drought-tolerant, notes


Susan Murch. The University of B.C.-Okanagan researcher is undertaking a three-year research project to develop water efficiencies for use in growing wine grapes. It’s being funded by the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust with a grant of $150,000. That will allow her to field-test new rootstocks that have


been created in her lab, and to test, market and distribute a bio-marker detection tool to identify the presence of specific characteristic proteins of vine water stress, reducing the need for preventive irrigation. The idea is to help growers conserve water. Murch came to UBC-O in 2005 from the University of Guelph, where she had worked in plant chemistry for the previous 20 years. She is the Canada Research Chair in Natural Products Chemistry. Her particular interest is in plant growth regulation and secondary metabolism, and that’s where the flavour compounds in wine grapes develop. “Interesting flavours come from stressed plants, but it’s a


fine line how much you can stress the plant,” she explains. Deficit irrigation is used by growers to create that stress for improved wine flavours. That fine line is easier to determine in some wine regions


of the world than it is in the Okanagan Valley. Murch says she has found this area particularly interesting because there are so many different growing conditions, due to factors such as soil type and microclimates, throughout the valley. As a precursor to this project, she began studying wine


grape rootstocks here five or six years ago, beginning with plants from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency which are


JUDIE STEEVES


Susan Murch has more than two decades of experience working in plant chemistry.


in common use in the Okanagan. She talked to growers from one end of the valley to the


other about which rootstocks they are using and conducted an informal survey on what their needs are, their concerns, what is working well for them and why they’ve made the choices they have. She then created dozens of new rootstocks, using somatic hybridization, a type of tissue culture. These have been tested in the lab, under conditions meant


to replicate drought, with a sandy-textured artificial soil that helps keep water from the roots, but under conditions where adequate light and nutrition are provided, Murch explains. The current project, called Biotechnology Resources for Improving Water Use Efficiency in Vineyards, will begin with testing in working vineyards this spring, moving to full- scale field trials in two local vineyards next year, including Summerhill Pyramid Estate Winery. At first, a range of grape varietals will be grown on the rootstocks to see which work best with which. After three years, the flavour characteristics will be compared to those varietals grown on the more-common rootstocks in the valley. During growth, the biomass produced on the new rootstocks will be compared to that grown on the more- common valley rootstocks as well as the disease resistance and cold susceptibility. The amount of water that might be conserved using the


new rootstocks will vary depending on the vineyard, its soil type, microclimate and management. However, the research is of interest in other parts of the


world as well as here in B.C., notes Murch. This project and the ones preceding it have involved students from the university conducting research. Murch feels this is a particularly appropriate venue for this


type of work because the university is actually sending its students out into a valley that’s currently recruiting from all areas of the world for the rapidly-growing wine industry.


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Spring 2012 29


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