Old grapevine (
Vitis vinifera
L.) accessions are a source of genes that could be rescued for use
per se or in modern breeding
programs. The first step in this rescuing is collecting and characterizing the germplasm from a particular region. This study
presents the genetic characterization of 21 grapevine accessions collected from the Atacama Desert in the far North of
Chile. Characterization was based on 12 microsatellites (Simple Sequence Repeats, or SSRs) supplemented with Amplified
Fragment Length Polymorphic (AFLP) markers. Most of the collected accessions produced red berries and shared the
genetic characteristics of the cv. País, an old genotype found throughout America. However, among those red-berried
accessions, one showed a severe abortive phenotype (22S7), and another (6S4) differed from 'País' in one allele. Both could
be examples of somatic mutations, even though no variations in their AFLP patterns were found. On the other hand, the only
accession with red berries that exhibited genetic characteristics different from those of 'País' (5CN) corresponded to 'Gros
Colman', a supposedly Georgian genotype introduced to this region by the mid-20
th century. Greater genetic diversity was
detected among the white and pink accessions, which were classified into five clades based on their SSR allelic patterns.
Of these genotypes, 11Si was identified as 'Emperatriz' or 'Red Seedless', an Argentinean variety; accessions 16H1 and
17H2 corresponded to a product of crossing 'País' and 'Muscat of Alexandria'; and, finally, accession 20S5 was identified
as 'Ahmeur bou Ahmeur', an Algerian genotype harboring pink berries. Two seeded genotypes harboring small and large
white berries were not identified as known varieties. The possible use of these accessions for breeding to enhance survival
in the harsh environment of the Atacama Desert is discussed.
