Historical Genetics: The Parentage of Chardonnay, Gamay, and Other Wine Grapes of Northeastern France
John Bowers,
1*
Jean-Michel Boursiquot,
2
Patrice This,
3
Kieu Chu,
1
Henrik Johansson,
1
Carole Meredith
1
The origins of the classic European wine grapes
(Vitis vinifera) have been the subject of much speculation.
In a search for parental relationships, microsatellite loci were
analyzed in more than 300 grape cultivars. Sixteen wine grapes that
have long been grown in northeastern France, including `Chardonnay',
`Gamay noir', `Aligoté', and `Melon', have microsatellite
genotypes consistent with their being the progeny of a single pair of
parents, `Pinot' and `Gouais blanc', both of which were widespread
in this region in the Middle Ages. Parentage analysis at 32 microsatellite loci provides statistical support for these
relationships.
1 Department of Viticulture and Enology,
University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
2 Unité de Formation et de Recherche de
Viticulture, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, 34060 Montpellier, France.
3 Unité de Recherches de
Génétique et d'Amélioration des Plantes-Viticulture,
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 34060 Montpellier,
France.
*
Present address: Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory, University of
Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
cpmeredith{at}ucdavis.edu
