Viroids are noncoding RNAs that infect plants. In order to establish systemic infection, these RNAs must traffic from an initially infected host cell into neighboring cells and ultimately throughout a whole plant. Recent studies have identified structural motifs in a viroid that are required for trafficking, enabling further studies on the mechanisms of their function. Some cellular proteins in...

Studies were carried out by the grapevine berries sprayed with copper hydroxide (Kocide 3000) to assess its quality in terms of reducing sugars, non reducing sugars, total sugars and acidity. The total, reducing and non reducing sugars were higher in the grapevine berries sprayed with Copper hydroxide comparing with that of control plots. Fruit quality was improved in Copper hydroxide (Kocide 3...

A method for preparing elicitor-responsive protoplasts from grapevine cells kept in suspension culture was established. The protoplasts were employed in order to perform transient gene expression experiments produced by externally added plasmids. Using the gene coding for bacterial beta-glucuronidase as the reporter gene, the transient expression under the control of various promoters of stilbe...

Stilbenes are considered the most important phytoalexin group in grapevine (Vitis vinifera) and they are known to contribute to the protection against various pathogens. The main stilbenes in grapevine are resveratrol and its derivatives and, among these, pterostilbene has recently attracted much attention due both to its antifungal and pharmacological properties. Indeed, pterostilbene is 5 to ...

GRAS transcription factors are involved in many processes of plant growth and development (e.g., axillary shoot meristem formation, root radial patterning, nodule morphogenesis, arbuscular development) as well as in plant disease resistance and abiotic stress responses. However, little information is available concerning this gene family in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.), an economically importa...

The Arabidopsis Tóxicos en Levadura (ATL) protein family is a class of E3 ubiquitin ligases with a characteristic RING-H2 Zn-finger structure that mediates diverse physiological processes and stress responses in plants. We carried out a genome-wide survey of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) ATL genes and retrieved 96 sequences containing the canonical ATL RING-H2 domain. We analysed their genomic ...

Powdery mildew (PM), caused by fungus Erysiphe necator, is one of the most devastating diseases of grapevine. To better understand grapevine-PM interaction and provide candidate resources for grapevine breeding, a suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA library was constructed from E. necator-infected leaves of a resistant Chinese wild Vitis quinquangularis clone "Shang-24". A total of...

A newly discovered group of spherical plant viruses contains a bipartite genome consisting of a single-strand linear RNA molecule (RNA 1, Mr 1.5 x 10(6) ), and a single-strand, covalently closed circular viroid-like RNA molecule (RNA 2, Mr approximately 125,000). The nucleotide sequences of the RNA 2 of two of these, velvet tobacco mottle virus and solanum nodiflorum mottle virus, have been det...

To study the early steps of flower initiation and development in grapevine (Vitis vinifera), we have isolated two MADS-box genes, VFUL-L and VAP1, the putative FUL-like and AP1 grapevine orthologs, and analyzed their expression patterns during vegetative and reproductive development. Both genes are expressed in lateral meristems that, in grapevine, can give rise to either inflorescences or tend...

Grapevine berry development is a complex and genetically controlled process, with many morphological, biochemical and physiological changes occurring during the maturation process. Research carried out on grapevine berry development has been mainly concerned with wine grape, while barely focusing on table grape. 'Fujiminori' is an important table grapevine cultivar, which is cultivated in most ...