Tasting soils in Pinot noir wines of the Willamette valley, Oregon

Efforts to improve the New Zealand wine industry’s climate resilience and sustainability through grapevine improvement are limited by germplasm availability and a reliance on Sauvignon Blanc exports. To address this, we are working to generate a population of 12,000 individuals with unique genetic traits, from which to select future clones for major export varieties.

Sauvignon Blanc plantlets are being regenerated from embryogenic callus, using an approach designed to mobilise endogenous transposable elements as mutagens.

Climate change and environmental degradation are existential threats to europe and the world. One of the most important objectives is to reduce by 2030 the use and the risk of chemical pesticides and fertilisers, reducing nutrient losses and increasing organic farming. Grapevine (vitis spp.) is one of the major and most economically important fruit crops worldwide. It is characterised by high levels of genetic diversity, as result of natural genetic mutations, which are common in grapevines and further assisted by ongoing vegetative propagation.

Ectopic RNA application for plant defense faces challenges in tree crops, including size, diffusion, and stability of active compounds such as ribonucleoproteins and nucleic acids. While existing strategies involve expressing dsRNA in transgenic plants targeting pathogens, our research strives to develop a transient RNAi system based on Spray-Induced Gene Silencing (SIGS). This approach aims to circumvent legal barriers and public concerns associated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Our strategy integrates SIGS with branched polyethyleneimine-functionalized Carbon Dots (bPEI-CDs) as nanocarriers, effectively addressing unique delivery challenges in plant defense as RNA stability and uptake enhancement

Climate change will increasingly challenge future viticulture due to long-enduring and extreme weather conditions, jeopardizing yield and wine quality in various ways.

Cabernet Sauvignon is the top red wine cultivar in CA, however, the hot climate in Fresno is not ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon, particularly for berry color development. Fruit-zone leaf removal and irrigation were studied previously to have the significant effect on grape yield performance and berry quality. But the timing of leaf removal and the timing of irrigation are still inconclusive. Also, mechanical fruit-zone leaf removal is relatively new in CA. Our study aims to identify the interactive effect of mechanical fruit-zone leaf removal and irrigation on Cabernet Sauvignon’s yield performance and fruit quality and find the ideal timing of leaf removal and irrigation to maximize the berry color while maintaining the sustainable yield level.