New Genetic discovery in the field of wine
Thursday, September 24, 2009
One of the best known episodes in the 8000-year history of grapevine cultivation led to iological changes that have not been well understood – until now. Through biomolecular detective work, German researchers have uncovered new details about the heredity of Vitis varieties in ltivation today. In the process, they have opened the way to more meaningful classification, accelerated breeding, and more accurate evaluation of the results, potentially breaking a bottleneck in the progress of the wine industry. Their discovery removes a major obstacle to a development already under way – that is, a shift toward grapevine breeding guided by highly specific genetic markers. It may even point the way toward production of European-tasting wines from North American cultivars, free of the "musty" or "foxy" flavors associated with New World grapevines. In response to the "great European wine blight" of the mid-1800s, growers aimed at preserving the most desirable qualities of European grapes while breeding in the hardiness of North American varieties. These were naturally resistant to native pests that had found their way – by steamship, most likely – across the Atlantic to Europe. Beginning around 1860, the introduction of two North American pests – an aphid and a fungus – nearly destroyed the wine industry, particularly in France. A century ago, many hybrids were in use, but the wine they produced was judged to be so inferior in flavor that winemakers were prohibited from blending them with higher-quality traditional wines. Today, breeders as well as growers have many reasons to want to know the heritage of grapevines, and readily observed traits are seldom sufficient. To distinguish among the countless grapevine cultivars, even experts need more than meets the eye. Much of a plant's history can be read on the molecular level, from its DNA and biochemistry, and modern scientific tools have been developed to discern the "fingerprints" of Old World, New World, and hybrid grapevines. New research shows, however, that one of the best established fingerprinting tools is not completely reliable, because it assumes a simpler genetic history than the biomolecular evidence records. The investigation was a collaboration between the Technische Universität München in Bavaria and the JKI Institute for Grapevine Breeding, along the famous Weinstrasse or "wine route" in the Pfalz region. Clues led the researchers to suspect that a difference in a particular phytochemical marker that has long been used to distinguish grape varieties stemmed not from a single gene mutation, but from a double mutation. Furthermore, they revealed, the chromosome bearing the double-mutated gene is one that may also carry a gene responsible for the poor, "musty" aroma of the North American varieties. A complex series of experiments and analyses confirmed this, and ruled out other possible explanations. A detailed description of the methods and results has been published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The biochemical process at the crux of the investigation is the production of anthocyanin pigments. Red European Vitis vinifera cultivars produce only pigment compounds such as the one called oenin whereas most other Vitis species and hybrids can produce pigment compounds like malvin as well. This subtle difference, which has been used to classify wines according to their varietal origin, had been attributed to a particular gene mutation inherited by the European plants. If that was the whole story, however, certain breeding programs might have been expected to turn on malvin production in European varieties, and this had never been observed.
Posted bySaini at 2:39 PM 0 comments
Labels: Science and Technology
Sony To Launch 3-D Television
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Sony Corp, which is one of the world's largest electronic company has decided to launch a liquid-crystal-display television which will be capable of playing 3-D programming. According to sources, the company will launch the liquid-crystal-display television by the end of next year. The Sony is to announce its plans for the new TV next week at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, LG Electronics Inc and Japan's Panasonic Corp, who are Sony's rivals have also said that they are planning to introduce 3-D products as well because 3-D video for the home is a big money maker. The 3-D plan has come up after Sony Corp incurred losses in its television sector for five years in a row and is undertaking cost cutting measures.
Posted bySaini at 9:04 AM 0 comments
Labels: Science and Technology
