Abstract

The use of rootstocks in viticulture was initially intended to overcome phylloxera infections that infected European vineyards in the late 19th century (Corso and Bonghi, 2004). However, the recognition of the benefits of rootstocks has since expanded to include nematode control, nutrient absorption, water uptake, vine vigor, yield, and fruit quality (Satisha et al., 2010; Walker et al., 2000; Keller, 2001; Tambe and Gawade, 2004; Ibacache and Sierra, 2009; Ibacache et al., 2016). Also, in some arid or semiarid areas, rootstocks are used to replace old or unproductive vineyards (Ibacache and Sierra, 2009; Satisha et al., 2010). Most of the world viticulture is based on grafted grapevines, where the scion is a cultivar of Vitis vinifera and the rootstock is either an American Vitis species or an interspecific Vitis hybrid. The different effects of the rootstocks on scions take place in a more or less indirect manner and are consequences of interactions between environmental factors and the physiology of both scion and rootstock cultivars employed. Grapevine cultivars are known to exhibit wide differences in mineral nutrient status. Likewise, the use of rootstocks with the resistance and tolerance to phylloxera and/or nematodes can also have a major influence on the mineral nutri- ent status of scion cultivar (Garcia et al., 2001; Bavaresco et al., 2003; Fisarakis et al., 2004; Ibacache and Sierra, 2009). This influence has important implications for decisions involving soil adaptability, grapevine fertilizer requirements, canopy management, yield, and fruit quality. Rootstocks are also known to affect the uptake of mineral nutrients that can be damaging to grapevines, including sodium, chloride, and boron (Stevens and Harvey, 1995; Walker et al., 2004). This should be considered when choosing a rootstock for soils, which have potentially damaging levels of salts. Although information about the interactions among the cultivar, the rootstock, and nutrient content in grapevines is reduced, several studies have shown that rootstocks differ in their effect on the nutrient levels in the grafted cultivar(Grant and Matthews, 1996; Nikolaou et al., 2000; Garcia et al., 2001; Bavaresco et al., 2003; Fisarakis et al., 2004; Robinson, 2005). To select the type of rootstock to be used in a specific edaphoclimatic condition, it is important to carry out local long-term studies, given the interactions that exist among the rootstock, the cultivar, and the environment. This implies that the results obtained with a particular cultivar-rootstock combination in a particular environment cannot be extrapolated to other situations (Keller et al., 2001).