A New Perspective for Vineyard Terroir Identity: Looking for Microbial Indicator Species by Long Read Nanopore Sequencing

Abstract

Grapevine is one of the most important fruit crops worldwide, being Portugal one of the top wine producers. It is well established that wine sensory characteristics from a particular region are defined by the physiological responses of the grapevine to its environment and thus, the concept of terroir in viticulture was established. Among all the factors that contribute to terroir definition, soil microorganisms play a major role from nutrient recycling to a drastic influence on plant fitness (growth and protection) and of course wine production. Soil microbiome from four different terroirs in Quinta dos Murças vineyard was analysed through long-read Oxford Nanopore sequencing. We have developed an analytical pipeline that allows the identification of function, ecologies, and indicator species based on long read sequencing data. The Douro vineyard was used as a case study, and we were able to establish microbiome signatures of each terroir.