Overview of genetic loci for traits in grapevine and their integration into the VIVC database

During recent years, numerous genetic loci in grapevine have been described that are linked with a specific phenotype. This information is of high value for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in grapevine breeding. To get an overview and to facilitate the usage of the most relevant genomic loci, we established from a breeding point of view a ‘Table of Loci for Traits in Grapevine’ as a PDF document within the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) (http://www.vivc.de/loci). Currently, this table contains 62 entries referring to 20 traits. The majority of them (40) are loci and alleles for downy and powdery mildew resistance. Eight entries refer to non-mildew resistances, five to traits of morphology, four to phenology and five to metabolites. The regularly updated table allows the grapevine community to stay informed about already used trait symbols in the literature. It has proved to be very helpful in avoiding double naming and in organizing and supporting a more systematic naming of loci. With the last update, we linked the data of the ‘Table of loci’ with that of the VIVC database itself and implemented a search module to advance convenient operation.