Plant Variety Journal - IP Australia

RHS Chart - edition
Plant Varieties Journal Vol. 21 No.3
vineyard conditions as well as for those grown in the pot trial. Leaf
measurements were recorded for vines grown in the pot trial. Leaf
lamina length (L1) was recorded from the point at which the
petiole attached to the mid-apex of the leaf. Similar measurements
were made between the point at which the lamina attached to the
apices of the other lobes (L2, L3, R2 and R3). Leaf widths were
also recorded between the two proximal (R3 and L3) and the two
distal (R2 and L2) lobes. Petiole length was also recorded. These
measurements were used to calculate a number of ratios.
Origin and Breeding
A series of controlled crosses was devised by CSIRO vine breeder Dr. A. J. Antcliff
(deceased) to re-combine the characteristics of American Vitis species for selection under
Australian conditions. The crosses, which involved many different species combined either
through inter- or intra-specific hybridisations, were conducted in 1967 at the University of
Illinois by Dr. H. C. Barrett, who was an employee of CSIRO and acted under the direction
of Dr. Antcliff. ‘Merbein 5512’ was selected from a cross made between V. berlandieri
Ressequier No. 1 (female parent) x V. berlandieri ‘Mazade’ (male parent). The seeds from
the crosses were introduced to Australia in 1967 and germinated at CSIRO Plant Industry’s
laboratories at Merbein in NW Victoria. Emergent seedlings were rowed out in progeny
groups in the experimental vineyard at CSIRO Merbein in 1968 and trained to a single wire
trellis. These seedlings have been maintained using standard viticultural practices. The
progeny from which ‘Merbein 5512’ was selected was screened for a range of essential and
desirable rootstock characteristics under the direction of Dr. Ernst Ruhl and Mr. Peter
Clingeleffer, former and current employees of CSIRO Plant Industry, respectively. Based
on its nursery and propagation characteristics, which were measured using dormant
cuttings taken from the original seedling, coupled with the mineral status of its shoot
tissues measured over several seasons, ‘Merbein 5512’ was multiplied via dormant cuttings
in 1988. Rootlings, produced from dormant cuttings propagated under mist over bottom
heated beds, were grafted with V. vinifera cv. Shiraz scions for further screening as a
rootstock in a replicated trial conducted at CSIRO’s Koorlong property in NW Victoria
from 1989 until present. Under the supervision of Mr Peter Clingeleffer, vine performance
and winemaking data were collected and analysed for this trial from 1995 until 2003. These
data, along with additional information concerning its nematode and Phylloxera tolerance
collected under the guidance of Dr Steve Sykes (CSIRO Plant Industry) and Dr Kevin
Powell (DPI Victoria), respectively, were used to select ‘Merbein 5512’ as a potential new
rootstock for the wine industry. ‘Merbein 5512’ was selected because of: its very high rate
of propagation by rooting dormant cuttings; its graft compatibility with a major wine grape
variety, viz. V. vinifera cv. Shiraz; its tolerance to both the Rutherglen and King Valley
strains of Phylloxera; its ability to withstand infestation by three biotypes of root-knot
nematode, viz. Meloidogyne incognita, M. javanica (a) and M. javanica (b); its ability to
regulate potassium uptake into Shiraz berries such that optimum levels were attained for
premium winemaking; its ability to impart an appropriate level of vigour in Shiraz scions
matched by yield and fruit quality which are reflected in juice and wine quality; its ability
to impart good oenological characteristics to Shiraz grapes such that wine quality in terms
of colour density, total anthocyanins and total phenolics exceeded those imparted by 1103
Paulsen and Ramsey rootstocks, which are commonly used industry standards. To date, no
off-types have been observed following vegetative propagation of ‘Merbein 5512’.
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