SNP genotyping elucidates the genetic diversity of Magna Graecia grapevine germplasm and its historical origin and dissemination

BACKGROUND: Magna Graecia is the ancient name for the modern geopolitical region of South Italy extensively populated by Greek colonizers, shown by archeological and historical evidence to be the oldest wine growing region of Italy, crucial for the spread of specialized viticulture around Mediterranean shores. Here, the genetic diversity of Magna Graecia grape germplasm was assessed and its role in grapevine propagation around the Mediterranean basin was underlined. RESULTS: A large collection of grapevines from Magna Graecia was compared with germplasm from Georgia to the Iberian Peninsula using the 18\u2009K SNP array. A high level of genetic diversity of the analyzed germplasm was determined; clustering, structure analysis and DAPC (Discriminant Analysis of Principal Components) highlighted the genetic relationships among genotypes from South Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean (Greece). Gene flow from east (Georgia) to west (Iberian Peninsula) was identified throughout the large number of detected admixed samples. Pedigree analysis showed a complex and well-structured network of first degree relationships, where the cultivars from Magna Graecia were mainly involved. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided evidence that Magna Graecia germplasm was shaped by historical events that occurred in the area due to the robust link between South Italian and Greek genotypes, as well as, by the availability of different thermal resources for cultivars growing in such different winegrowing areas. The uniqueness of this ampelographic platform was mainly an outcome of complex natural or human-driven crosses involving elite cultivars

Image Resolution in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Digital images captured with electron microscopes are corrupted by two fundamental effects: shot noise resulting from electron counting statistics and blur resulting from the nonzero width of the focused electron beam. The generic problem of computationally undoing these effects is called image reconstruction and for decades has proved to be one of the most challenging and important problems in imaging science. This proposal concerned the application of the Pixon method, the highest-performance image-reconstruction algorithm yet devised, to the enhancement of images obtained from the highest-resolution electron microscopes in the world, now in operation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Magnetron sputtering of gold nanoparticles onto WO3 and activated carbon

In this paper we describe the production and investigation of two supported gold catalyst systems prepared by magnetron sputtering: Au on WO3 and Au on activated carbon. The magnetron sputtering technique entails using an argon plasma to sputter a high purity gold target producing a flux of gold atoms which are deposited onto a constantly tumbling support material. This technique offers a number of advantages over conventional chemical preparation methods. One advantage is the ability to create gold nanoparticles (diameters < 3 nm) on unusual support materials, such as WO3 and carbon, which are generally not accessible using the ubiquitous deposition-precipitation technique. We present data demonstrating the formation of catalytic gold nanoparticles with average diameters of 1.7 nm (Au/C) and 2.1 nn (Au/WO3), as well as a substantial number of single atom species on the Au/C sample. Prototypical carbon monoxide oxidation (Au/WO3) and glycerol oxidation (Au/C) reactions were performed in order to gauge the activity of these catalysts. The WO3 supported catalyst exhibits substantial catalytic activity from room temperature to 135 degrees C (0.0018-0.082 mol CO/mol Au s) with an activation energy near 23 kJ/mol. The activity of the Au/C catalyst was compared to a Au/C catalyst prepared from a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) sol. The smaller catalysts prepared by sputtering are more active than the large gold particles prepared using the PVA sol, however the larger gold nanoparticles are substantially more selective towards the production of intermediate products from the oxidation of glycerol