WineSeq^®: A new tool for the study of the functional biodiversity of soils, and its use as a biomarker and guide for vitiviniculture practices

¹ WineSeq, Biome Makers, 48011 Valladolid, Spain 94107 San Francisco, USA
² Department of Microbiology, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
³ Excell Ibérica Laboratories, 26006 Logroño, Spain

Abstract

Apart from their explicit viticulture value, vineyards are natural reservoirs of biological diversity, constituting a complex, but interesting, anthropogenic ecosystem. The functional biodiversity found in vineyard soils is determinant not only for the physical-chemical and nutritional properties of these soils, but also for vine health and grape yield and quality. Diseases affecting vine health or grape quality cause significant economic losses for wineries, specially in the case of old and unique vineyards. In a precision viticulture context, the use of rational phytosanitary treatments and the application of adequate agronomical practices is the only way to maintain the biodiversity required by the fields to keep their stability and resilience. In this context, we have developed WineSeq^Ⓡ (https://wineseq.com/), as the first online portal created to support the management of vine health and yield and to prevent or to diagnose vine diseases. The portal (https://portal.wineseq.com/) shows filtered and interpreted results of the global microbial population analyzed by metagenomics (DNA Next Generation Sequencing) from soil, wood, grapes or fermentation samples. WineSeq^Ⓡ technology is based on machine learning and cloud computing to integrate microbiome information with climatic, edaphic and agronomical information of interest. Thus, we make easier and understandable the analysis of the microbial variable for vinegrowers and winemakers.