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Water is a scarce resource in areas with Mediterranean type climates or semi-arid regions and according to the latest prediction of climate change it will become scarcer in the near future. Water availability is important for viticulture as grape production, quality and economic viability is dependent upon this resource. While water use of vineyards can vary from 300 to 700 mm per year or even greater, the improvement of vineyard water use efficiency (WUE) is vital for sustainable viticulture in many of the world's grape production areas.

The potential to increase WUE in vineyards can be accomplished using both agronomic and biotechnological ways. The relationship between net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance (AN vs. gs), shows two main ways for improving WUE: shortening the water use (mainly through agronomic ways, i.e., controlled deficit irrigation) and/or increasing photosynthesis for similar stomatal aperture (mainly searching genetic capacity for superior WUE). Inside this frame, the present work provides a critical review of agronomic ways to improve WUE and some assessment on the genetic variability of grapevine cultivars for different parameters reflecting the WUE. Recent advances in our group on photosynthesis parameters as mesophyll conductance, or Rubisco specificity factor open promising ways as putative targets for future WUE improvements.