Validation Assay of p3_VvAGL11 Marker in a Wide Range of Genetic Background for Early Selection of Stenospermocarpy in Vitis vinifera L.

DNA markers technology, derived from research in molecular biology and genomics, offers great promise for plant breeding, allowing the "molecular breeding" via marker-assisted selection. Grapevine genomic resources allowed, in recent years, the characterization at molecular level of genes involved in interesting phenotypes such as stenospermocarpic seedlessness, a trait really appreciated by consumers. Recent studies in table grapes revealed that the VvAGL11 gene, member of the D-lineage MADS-box family, controls the ovule identity, and thus potentially playing an important role in stenospermocarpy. Intragenic markers of VvAGL11 have been found and tested for breeding purposes. In the present paper, we describe an in deep assay on a total of 475 genotypes derived by our own grape germplasm and seeded × seedless crosses F1 offspring, to evaluate and verify the "diagnostic" power of VvAGL11 in marker-assisted selection. We found only 8/475 that were seeded and carried the seedless-associated allele in the STS p3-VvAGL11. However, and most importantly, there were no seedless varieties without such allele. We validated the marker as a 100 % effective tool for early negative selection of stenospermocarpy in Vitis vinifera L. crosses

Environmental assessment of organic juice imported to Denmark: a case study on oranges (Citrus sinensis) from Brazil

Growing global trade with organic products has given rise to a debate on the environmental impacts during both production and transport. Environmental hotspots of organic orange juice produced by smallholders in Brazil, processed and imported to Denmark were identified in a case study using a life cycle approach. Furthermore, small-scale organic orange production was compared with small-scale conventional and large-scale organic orange production in the case study area in Brazil. Transport was the main contributor (57%) to the global warming potential of organic orange juice from small-scale farmers imported to Denmark, followed by the processing stage (29%), especially the truck transport of fresh oranges in Brazil and of reconstituted orange juice in Europe. Non-renewable energy use per hectare was significantly lower on the organic small-scale farms than on the conventional, with a similar, although not significantly lower, pattern for global warming potential and eutrophication. Including soil carbon sequestration in organic plantations widened the difference in global warming potential between organic and conventional. Organic small-scale farms had a higher crop diversity than conventional, which may have a positive effect on biodiversity along with the spontaneous vegetation between the organic orange trees and the absence of toxic pesticides. Comparing small-scale with large-scale organic orange production, crop diversity was higher on the small-scale farms, while global warming potential, eutrophication potential and the use of copper per hectare were significantly lower, indicating that environmental impacts from small-scale differ from large-scale organic farms