In grapevine (Vitis vinifera), as in many crops, soluble sugar content is a major component of yield and economical value. This paper identifies and characterizes a Glycogen Synthase Kinase3 protein kinase, cloned from a cDNA library of grape Cabernet Sauvignon berries harvested at the ripening stage. This gene, called VvSK1, was mainly expressed in flowers, berries, and roots. In the berries, ...

The influence of GA3 application on the fruit quality and productivity of cane pruned Thompson seedless was evaluated. Four treatments applied were: GA3, Girdle, GA3 + Girdle and control with no GA3 and no girdle were used. GA3 or GA3 + Girdle berries resulted in heavier berries, hastened berry diameter, and produced larger berries in comparison to the control grapevine trees. In addition, bunc...

We describe here the establishment of an online database containing a large number of sequences and related data on viroids, viroid-like RNAs and human hepatitis delta virus (vHDV) in a customizable and user-friendly format. This database is available on the World Wide Web at http://penelope.med.usherb.ca/subviral.

Plant stilbenes are phytoalexins that accumulate in a small number of plant species, including grapevine (Vitis vinifera), in response to biotic and abiotic stresses and have been implicated in many beneficial effects on human health. In particular, resveratrol, the basic unit of all other complex stilbenes, has received widespread attention because of its cardio-protective, anticarcinogenic, a...

Grapevine stilbenes, particularly trans-resveratrol, have a demonstrated pharmacological activity. Other natural stilbenes derived from resveratrol such as pterostilbene or piceatannol, display higher oral bioavailability and bioactivity than the parent compound, but are far less abundant in natural sources. Thus, to efficiently obtain these bioactive resveratrol derivatives, there is a need to...

Resveratrol contributes to a plant's tolerance of various abiotic and biotic stresses and is highly beneficial to human health. A search for elite alleles affecting resveratrol production was undertaken to find useful grapevine germplasm resources. Resveratrol levels in both berry skins and leaves were determined in 95 grapevine accessions (including 50 wild Chinese grapevine accessions and 45 ...

Inoculation of the grapevine (Vitis amurensis Rupr.) with the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus versiforme significantly increased resistance against the root-knot nematode (RKN) Meloidogyne incognita. Studies using relative quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (RQRT-PCR) analysis of grapevine root inoculation with the AM fungus revealed an up-regulation of VCH3 transcripts. This incr...

The distribution of carbon (C) into whole grapevine fruiting cuttings was investigated during flower development to determine the relative contribution of inflorescence and leaf photoassimilates in the total C balance and to investigate their partitioning towards other plant organs. A (13)C labelling procedure was used to label C photoassimilates by leaves and inflorescences in grapevine. Inves...

Wild grapevine genetic diversity in southeast Turkey has not been documented to date. In the present work, in order to clarify the relationships between wild and cultivated grape accessions from southeastern Turkey, 22 nuclear and three chloroplast microsatellite loci were used on 21 wild grapevine Vitis vinifera L. ssp. sylvestris (Gmelin) and 13 cultivated grapevine Vitis vinifera ssp. sativa...

The causal agent of chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle (CChM) disease has been identified, cloned, and sequenced. It is a viroid RNA (CChMVd) of 398-399 nucleotides. In vitro transcripts with the complete CChMVd sequence were infectious and induced the typical symptoms of the CChM disease. CChMVd can form hammerhead structures in both polarity strands. Plus and minus monomeric CChMVd RNAs self-clea...