Surface wax in the ancestral grapevine Vitis sylvestris correlate with partial resistance to Powdery Mildew

BACKGROUND: Powdery Mildew of Grapevine belongs to the major diseases in viticulture and requires intensive use of fungicides. Genetic introgression of resistance factors from wild grapes from North America and, recently, China, has been successful, but wine made from those varieties is still confronted with low consumer acceptance, due to differences in taste. RESULTS: The current work explores the potential of Vitis vinifera sylvestris, the wild ancestor of domesticated Grapevine, with respect to containing Erysiphe necator, the causative agent of Powdery Mildew. Making use of a germplasm collection comprising the entire genetic variability remaining in Germany, we show that there is considerable genetic variation in the formation of leaf surface waxes exceeding wax formation in commercial varieties. CONCLUSIONS: High wax formation correlates with reduced susceptibility to controlled infection with E. necator linked with perturbations of appressoria formation. We propose V. vinifera sylvestris as novel source for resistance breeding since it is genetically much closer to domesticated grapevine than the hitherto used sources from beyond the species barrier. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-023-04311-x.