Reducing the pH of wine by increasing grape sunlight exposure: a method to mitigate the effects of climate warming

The objective of this work was reducing the pH of wine through manipulating grape exposure. Two different training systems (VSP = vertical shoot positioning and free cordon) combined with leaf thinning treatments were performed within a commercial vineyard in order to modify bunch exposition levels to the sunlight radiation during 2010 and 2011 years. Leaf thinning and trellis systems involved significant differences in the pH of wine during the two years: the pH of wine decreased when the bunch exposure was increased in the vineyard. Manipulating grape exposure is a valuable tool in order to modify the pH of wine

Estimation of grape quality in vineyards using a new viticultural index

Crop yield, total leaf area, canopy surface area and other vineyard parameters were determined on different 'Tempranillo' and 'Grenache' (Vitis vinifera L.) vineyards situated in Rioja appellation (Spain). All parameters were determined during three years. Grape vineyard assessment was performed by Vitur scoresheet, proposed by TARDAGUILA and MARTINEZ DE TODA (2005). The main chemical composition parameters of grape pulp and skin were also determined. The correlations between the viticultural variables and the chemical composition variables of the grapes were also analysed. The parameter that displayed the best correlation with grape phenolic composition was the CSA/Y/ShL parameter, referred to as the Toda Index. This index could be used to estimate the phenolic composition of grapes. It also presented the best correlations with grape quality, estimated using the Vitur score-sheet. These results suggest that, for winegrape vineyard assessment, Vitur score-sheet (necessarily subjective) may be replaced with the new Toda index (faster and objective). The main advantage of this new parameter is that it is easy to determine and is completely objective, unlike visual estimation which offers a high degree of subjectivity.

Varietal differences in the sugar content of red grapes at the onset of anthocyanin synthesis

The aim of this work was to study the sugar content of grapes at the onset of anthocyanin synthesis, in eighteen red grape varieties for three years. Sugar content at start of anthocyanin synthesis was measured during three years in eighteen red grape varieties under the same climatic conditions within DOCa Rioja. There were significant differences between varieties with respect to sugar content of grapes at the onset of anthocyanin synthesis. Varieties with the lowest sugar content at the beginning of anthocyanin synthesis, every year, were 'Alicante Bouschet', 'Moristel' and 'Trepat' (between 7 and 9 °Brix) and varieties with the highest sugar content were 'Trousseau' and 'Grenache' (between 10 and 14 °Brix). The rest of varieties showed, every year, a sugar content ranging between 9 and 10 °Brix. The difference between the variety with higher sugar content at the start of anthocyanin synthesis ('Troussseau') and the variety with lower sugar content ('Alicante Bouschet') was about 6 °Brix for the three years. On the other hand, there was no relationship between the sugar content at the onset of anthocyanin synthesis and the date on which this anthocyanin synthesis occurred. The sugar content at the start of anthocyanin synthesis for each variety in different years is much more stable than the dates that this synthesis occurs.  Therefore, in the study of varieties regarding their cycle, it would be very interesting to take into account not only the phenology or the date on which the veraison occurs but also the berry sugar content at the onset of anthocyanins synthesis

Leaf area reduction by trimming, a growing technique to restore the anthocyanins : sugars ratio decoupled by the warming climate

The aim of this work is the evaluation of the leaf area reduction by trimming, as a growing technique to restore the anthocyanins : sugars ratio decoupled by the warming climate. A 3-year period (2010-2012) severe shoot trimming treatment was done after berryset (berry diameter 3-4 mm) and the veraison date was delayed around 20 days. The grapes were picked at the same level of soluble solids in all the treatments. However, for every year, the trim treatment significatively increased the total anthocyanin content between 8 % and 21 % compared to control. Therefore, delaying the berry ripening process trough the decrease of the leaf area to fruit ratio, could partially restore the anthocyanins : sugars ratio disrupted by elevated temperatures. Although it is necessary to study other trimmings intensities as well as other times of intervention, the shoot trimming treatment could be a very simple technique to delay berry ripening and compensate the effects of climate warming.

Participation of Candida albicans transcription factor Rlm1 in cell wall biogenesis and virulence

Candida albicans cell wall is important for growth and interaction with the environment. RLM1 is one of the putative transcription factors involved in the cell wall integrity pathway, which plays an important role in the maintenance of the cell wall integrity. In this work we investigated the involvement of RLM1 in the cell wall biogenesis and in virulence. Newly constructed C. albicans Δ/Δrlm1 mutants showed typical cell wall weakening phenotypes, such as hypersensitivity to Congo Red, Calcofluor White, and caspofungin (phenotype reverted in the presence of sorbitol), confirming the involvement of RLM1 in the cell wall integrity. Additionally, the cell wall of C. albicans Δ/Δrlm1 showed a significant increase in chitin (213%) and reduction in mannans (60%), in comparison with the wild-type, results that are consistent with cell wall remodelling. Microarray analysis in the absence of any stress showed that deletion of RLM1 in C. albicans significantly down-regulated genes involved in carbohydrate catabolism such as DAK2, GLK4, NHT1 and TPS1, up-regulated genes involved in the utilization of alternative carbon sources, like AGP2, SOU1, SAP6, CIT1 or GAL4, and genes involved in cell adhesion like ECE1, ALS1, ALS3, HWP1 or RBT1. In agreement with the microarray results adhesion assays showed an increased amount of adhering cells and total biomass in the mutant strain, in comparison with the wild-type. C. albicans mutant Δ/Δrlm1 strain was also found to be less virulent than the wild-type and complemented strains in the murine model of disseminated candidiasis. Overall, we showed that in the absence of RLM1 the modifications in the cell wall composition alter yeast interaction with the environment, with consequences in adhesion ability and virulence. The gene expression findings suggest that this gene participates in the cell wall biogenesis, with the mutant rearranging its metabolic pathways to allow the use of alternative carbon sources.This work was supported by CBMA (Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology) through the FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia) project PEst-C/BIA/UI4050/2011. Yolanda Delgado-Silva was supported by an ALbAN scholarship (No E07D400922PE), and Alexandra Correia by SFRH/BD/31354/2006 fellowship. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Multiple TORC1-Associated Proteins Regulate Nitrogen Starvation-Dependent Cellular Differentiation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoes differentiation into filamentous-like forms and invades the growth medium as a foraging response to nutrient and environmental stresses. These developmental responses are under the downstream control of effectors regulated by the cAMP/PKA and MAPK pathways. However, the upstream sensors and signals that induce filamentous growth through these signaling pathways are not fully understood. Herein, through a biochemical purification of the yeast TORC1 (Target of Rapamycin Complex 1), we identify several proteins implicated in yeast filamentous growth that directly associate with the TORC1 and investigate their roles in nitrogen starvation-dependent or independent differentiation in yeast.We isolated the endogenous TORC1 by purifying tagged, endogenous Kog1p, and identified associated proteins by mass spectrometry. We established invasive and pseudohyphal growth conditions in two S. cerevisiae genetic backgrounds (Σ1278b and CEN.PK). Using wild type and mutant strains from these genetic backgrounds, we investigated the roles of TORC1 and associated proteins in nitrogen starvation-dependent diploid pseudohyphal growth as well as nitrogen starvation-independent haploid invasive growth.We show that several proteins identified as associated with the TORC1 are important for nitrogen starvation-dependent diploid pseudohyphal growth. In contrast, invasive growth due to other nutritional stresses was generally not affected in mutant strains of these TORC1-associated proteins. Our studies suggest a role for TORC1 in yeast differentiation upon nitrogen starvation. Our studies also suggest the CEN.PK strain background of S. cerevisiae may be particularly useful for investigations of nitrogen starvation-induced diploid pseudohyphal growth

LiteBIRD satellite: JAXA's new strategic L-class mission for all-sky surveys of cosmic microwave background polarization

LiteBIRD, the Lite (Light) satellite for the study of B-mode polarization and Inflation from cosmic background Radiation Detection, is a space mission for primordial cosmology and fundamental physics. JAXA selected LiteBIRD in May 2019 as a strategic large-class (L-class) mission, with its expected launch in the late 2020s using JAXA's H3 rocket. LiteBIRD plans to map the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization over the full sky with unprecedented precision. Its main scientific objective is to carry out a definitive search for the signal from cosmic inflation, either making a discovery or ruling out well-motivated inflationary models. The measurements of LiteBIRD will also provide us with an insight into the quantum nature of gravity and other new physics beyond the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. To this end, LiteBIRD will perform full-sky surveys for three years at the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L2 for 15 frequency bands between 34 and 448 GHz with three telescopes, to achieve a total sensitivity of 2.16 μK-arcmin with a typical angular resolution of 0.5° at 100 GHz. We provide an overview of the LiteBIRD project, including scientific objectives, mission requirements, top-level system requirements, operation concept, and expected scientific outcomes

Concept design of low frequency telescope for CMB B-mode polarization satellite LiteBIRD

LiteBIRD has been selected as JAXA’s strategic large mission in the 2020s, to observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB) B-mode polarization over the full sky at large angular scales. The challenges of LiteBIRD are the wide field-of-view (FoV) and broadband capabilities of millimeter-wave polarization measurements, which are derived from the system requirements. The possible paths of stray light increase with a wider FoV and the far sidelobe knowledge of -56 dB is a challenging optical requirement. A crossed-Dragone configuration was chosen for the low frequency telescope (LFT : 34–161 GHz), one of LiteBIRD’s onboard telescopes. It has a wide field-of-view (18° x 9°) with an aperture of 400 mm in diameter, corresponding to an angular resolution of about 30 arcminutes around 100 GHz. The focal ratio f/3.0 and the crossing angle of the optical axes of 90◦ are chosen after an extensive study of the stray light. The primary and secondary reflectors have rectangular shapes with serrations to reduce the diffraction pattern from the edges of the mirrors. The reflectors and structure are made of aluminum to proportionally contract from warm down to the operating temperature at 5 K. A 1/4 scaled model of the LFT has been developed to validate the wide field-of-view design and to demonstrate the reduced far sidelobes. A polarization modulation unit (PMU), realized with a half-wave plate (HWP) is placed in front of the aperture stop, the entrance pupil of this system. A large focal plane with approximately 1000 AlMn TES detectors and frequency multiplexing SQUID amplifiers is cooled to 100 mK. The lens and sinuous antennas have broadband capability. Performance specifications of the LFT and an outline of the proposed verification plan are presented

Using global team science to identify genetic parkinson's disease worldwide.

No abstract available