Carbon budget of the vineyard \u2013 A new feature of sustainability

Vineyards received scarce attention in relation to the continuous monitoring of carbon fluxes and the assessment of their overall budget, as a common believe is that agricultural crops cannot be net carbon sinks. Indeed, many technical inputs, massive periodical harvests, and the repeated disturbances of upper soil layers, all contribute to a substantial loss both of the old and newly-synthesized organic matter. Woody perennials, however, can behave differently: they grow a permanent structure, stand undisturbed in the same field for decades, originate abundant pruning debris, and are often grass-covered. We have been monitoring the Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) by eddy covariance and the carbon partitioning in a temperate vineyard in North Eastern Italy. Five complete yearly budgets confirm a steady and substantial sink capacity of the system, with a yearly NEE around 800\u2013900 gC m 122, grape harvest representing about 20\u201325% of it. Biometrical assessment of growth and partitioning show a good agreement with micrometeorological measurements and demonstrate a large input of organic matter into the soil. Even if it can be objected that this sink may be only temporary and the built-up can be substantially disrupted at the end of the vineyard life cycle, these results show that there is a concrete possibility of storing carbon in temperate-climate vineyards, possibly contributing to the global carbon budget. This sink capacity might be accounted in the official calculation of wine carbon footprint and represents a new, relevant feature of their sustainability

Sentinel-2 Data Analysis and Comparison with UAV Multispectral Images for Precision Viticulture

Precision viticulture (PV) requires the use of technologies that can detect the spatial and temporal variability of vineyards and, at the same time, allow useful information to be obtained at sustainable costs. In order to develop a cheap and easy-to-handle operational monitoring scheme for PV, the aim of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using Sentinel-2 multispectral images for long-term vineyard monitoring through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Vigour maps of two vineyards located in northeastern Italy were computed from satellite imagery and compared with those derived from UAV multispectral images; their correspondence was evaluated from qualitative and statistical points of view. To achieve this, the UAV images were roughly resampled to 10 m pixel size in order to match the spatial resolution of the satellite imagery. Preliminary results show the potential use of open source Sentinel-2 platforms for monitoring vineyards, highlighting links with the information given in the agronomic bulletins and identifying critical areas for crop production. Despite the large differences in spatial resolution, the results of the comparison between the UAV and Sentinel-2 data were promising. However, for long-term vineyard monitoring at territory scale, further studies using multispectral sensor calibration and groundtruth data are required

Medium-resolution multispectral data from sentinel-2 to assess the damage and the recovery time of late frost on Vineyards

In a climate-change context, the advancement of phenological stages may endanger viticultural areas in the event of a late frost. This study evaluated the potential of satellite-based remote sensing to assess the damage and the recovery time after a late frost event in 2017 in northern Italian vineyards. Several vegetation indices (VIs) normalized on a two-year dataset (2018-2019) were compared over a frost-affected area (F) and a control area (NF) using unpaired two-sample t-test. Furthermore, the must quality data (total acidity, sugar content and pH) of F and NF were analyzed. The VIs most sensitive in the detection of frost damage were Chlorophyll Absorption Ratio Index (CARI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and Modified Triangular Vegetation Index 1 (MTVI1) (-5.26%,-16.59%, and-5.77% compared to NF, respectively). The spectral bands Near-Infrared (NIR) and Red Edge 7 were able to identify the frost damage (-16.55 and-16.67% compared to NF, respectively). Moreover, CARI, EVI, MTVI1, NIR, Red Edge 7, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Modified Simple Ratio (MSR) provided precise information on the full recovery time (+17.7%, +22.42%, +29.67%, +5.89%, +5.91%, +16.48%, and +8.73% compared to NF, respectively) approximately 40 days after the frost event. The must analysis showed that total acidity was higher (+5.98%), and pH was lower (-2.47%) in F compared to NF. These results suggest that medium-resolution multispectral data from Sentinel-2 constellation may represent a cost-effective tool for frost damage assessment and recovery management

Utilizing GIS tools to analyze viticultural choices under climate change scenario in North-East of Italy

Vineyard areas are constantly decreasing in Italy as well as in Europe. North-eastern regions in Italy are showing an opposite trend, steadily expanding with increased winegrowing areas. In viticulture and wine production, climate is arguably the most critical aspect in ripening fruit to achieve optimum characteristics to produce a given wine style. According to WMO and IPCC, climate is changing and the world is experiencing unprecedented climate extremes. Despite recent zoning aimed at defining key factors in determining the suitability of a given region for specific varieties and wine types, the expansion of viticulture in North East of Italy has led to some irrational planting choices about row orientation, dimensions, and slope. Under these conditions, the consequences of some extreme weather events may be more severe. The main objective of this study was to verify whether row orientation, aspect, and slope of vineyards, in combination with climate conditions, may affect yield and fruit quality. An area localized in the Northern Italy was analyzed, taking advantage of QGIS tools. The investigated parameters included: row orientation, slope, area, age of plantation, aspect ratio and distance between rows. Such variables have been combined with management information (planting distances, scion/rootstock combination, use of irrigation) and environmental information (yearly weather conditions). Data resulting from GIS analysis, vineyard management and environmental information have been correlated with 10-years yield and must quality parameters. Furthermore, satellite imagery from sample vineyards were collected and investigated in order to analyze the responses of the plants to different weather conditions. The results of the analysis highlighted how the mean slope of investigated vineyards is in general ranging between 1 and 3 degrees, with a prevalent Southern exposure. Rows do not exhibit a dominant orientation, mainly due to the following reasons: - the reduced dimensions available for vine cultivation, especially in hilly areas, where the vineyards are planted along contours, in order to limit erosion - the need for mechanisation, which calls for longer rather than larger rows. The results enabled to create a connection between row orientation, climate and soil conditions, and grapevine yield and quality responses to be considered as a guide for future planting choices more suitable to the restrictions imposed by increasing extreme weather events

Discrimination between the activity of protein kinase CK2 holoenzyme and its catalytic subunits

AbstractThe acronym CK2 denotes a highly pleiotropic Ser/Thr protein kinase whose over-expression correlates with neoplastic growth. A vexed question about the enigmatic regulation of CK2 concerns the actual existence in living cells of the catalytic (α and/or α′) and regulatory β-subunits of CK2 not assembled into the regular heterotetrameric holoenzyme. Here we take advantage of novel reagents, namely a peptide substrate and an inhibitor which discriminate between the holoenzyme and the catalytic subunits, to show that CK2 activity in CHO cells is entirely accounted for by the holoenzyme. Transfection with individual subunits moreover does not give rise to holoenzyme formation unless the catalytic and regulatory subunits are co-transfected together, arguing against the existence of free subunits in CHO cells

Protein Kinase CK2 Mutants Defective in Substrate Recognition PURIFICATION AND KINETIC ANALYSIS

Five mutants of protein kinase CK2 α subunit in which altogether 14 basic residues were singly to quadruply replaced by alanines (K74A,K75A,K76A,K77A; K79A, R80A,K83A; R191A,R195A,K198A; R228A; and R278A, K279A,R280A) have been purified to near homogeneity either as such or after addition of the recombinant β subunit. By this latter procedure five mutated tetrameric holoenzymes were obtained as judged from their subunit composition, sedimentation coefficient on sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation, and increased activity toward a specific peptide substrate as compared with the isolated α subunits. The kinetic constants and the phosphorylation efficiencies (Vmax/Km) of all the mutants with the parent peptide RRRADDSDDDDD and a series of derivatives, in which individual aspartic acids were replaced by alanines, have been determined. Three mutants, namely K74A,K75A,K76A,K77A; K79A,R80A, K83A; and R191A,R195A,K198A display dramatically lower phosphorylation efficiency and 8-50-fold higher Km values with the parent peptide, symptomatic of reduced attitude to bind the peptide substrate as compared with CK2 wild type. Such differences either disappear or are attenuated if the mutants R191A,R195A, K198A; K79A,R80A,K83A; and K74A,K75A,K76A,K77A are assayed with the peptides RRRADDSADDDD, RRRADDSDDADD, and RRRADDSDDDAA, respectively. In contrast, the phosphorylation efficiencies of the other substituted peptides decrease more markedly with these mutants than with CK2 wild type. These data show that one or more of the basic residues clustered in the 191-198, 79-83, and 74-77 sequences are implicated in the recognition of the acidic determinants at positions +1, +3, and +4/+5, respectively, and that if these residues are mutated, the relevance of the other acidic residues surrounding serine is increased. In contrast the other two mutants, namely R228A and R278A,K279A, R280A, display with all the peptides Vmax values higher than CK2 wild type, counterbalanced however by somewhat higher Kmvalues. It can be concluded from these data that all the five mutations performed are compatible with the reconstitution of tetrameric holoenzyme, but all of them influence the enzymatic efficiency of CK2 to different extents. Although the basic residues mutated in the 74-77, 79-83, and 191-198 sequences are clearly implicated in substrate recognition by interacting with acidic determinants at variable positions downstream from serine, the other basic residues seem to play a more elusive and/or indirect role in catalysis

Protein Kinase CK2α′ Is Induced by Serum as a Delayed Early Gene and Cooperates with Ha-ras in Fibroblast Transformation

Protein kinase CK2 is an ubiquitous and pleiotropic Ser/Thr protein kinase composed of two catalytic (alpha and/or alpha') and two noncatalytic (beta) subunits forming a heterotetrameric holoenzyme involved in cell growth and differentiation. Here we report the identification, cloning, and oncogenic activity of the murine CK2alpha' subunit. Serum treatment of quiescent mouse fibroblasts induces CK2alpha' mRNA expression, which peaks at 4 h. The kinetics of CK2alpha' expression correlate with increased kinase activity toward a specific CK2 holoenzyme peptide substrate. The ectopic expression of CK2alpha' (or CK2alpha) cooperates with Ha-ras in foci formation of rat primary embryo fibroblasts. Moreover, we observed that BALB/c 3T3 fibroblasts transformed with Ha-ras and CK2alpha' show a faster growth rate than cells transformed with Ha-ras alone. In these cells the higher growth rate correlates with an increase in calmodulin phosphorylation, a protein substrate specifically affected by isolated CK2 catalytic subunits but not by CK2 holoenzyme, suggesting that unbalanced expression of a CK2 catalytic subunit synergizes with Ha-ras in cell transformation

Assessing the Feasibility of Using Sentinel-2 Imagery to Quantify the Impact of Heatwaves on Irrigated Vineyards

Heatwaves are common in many viticultural regions of Australia. We evaluated the potential of satellite-based remote sensing to detect the effects of high temperatures on grapevines in a South Australian vineyard over the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons. The study involved: (i) comparing the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from medium- and high-resolution satellite images; (ii) determining correlations between environmental conditions and vegetation indices (Vis); and (iii) identifying VIs that best indicate heatwave effects. Pearson's correlation and Bland-Altman testing showed a significant agreement between the NDVI of high- and medium-resolution imagery (R = 0.74, estimated difference ??0.093). The band and the VI most sensitive to changes in environmental conditions were 705 nm and enhanced vegetation index (EVI), both of which correlated with relative humidity (R = 0.65 and R = 0.62, respectively). Conversely, SWIR (short wave infrared, 1610 nm) exhibited a negative correlation with growing degree days (R = -0.64). The analysis of heat stress showed that green and red edge bands-the chlorophyll absorption ratio index (CARI) and transformed chlorophyll absorption ratio index (TCARI)-were negatively correlated with thermal environmental parameters such as air and soil temperature and growing degree days (GDDs). The red and red edge bands-the soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) and CARI2-were correlated with relative humidity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating the effectiveness of using medium-resolution imagery for the detection of heat stress on grapevines in irrigated vineyards.</p

The ATP,Mg-dependent protein phosphatase: Regulation by casein kinase-1

AbstractThe free modulator subunit of the ATP,Mg-dependent phosphatase is phosphorylated up to 1 mol per mol by casein kinase-1, up to 1.85 mol per mol after dephosphorylation by the PCSH1 phosphatase, but 10-fold less when purified in the presence of NaF, suggesting an in vivo phosphorylation of the casein kinase-1 sites. Peptide mapping of 32P-modulator labeled by casein kinase-1 or -2 shows a different phosphorylation pattern. Phosphorylation of the inactive phosphatase by casein kinase-1 prevents the subsequent kinase FA-mediated activation, while it does not impair the activated phosphatase

Time course of biochemical, physiological, and molecular responses to field-mimicked conditions of drought, salinity, and recovery in two maize lines

Drought and salinity stresses will have a high impact on future crop productivity, due to climate change and the increased competition for land, water, and energy. The response to drought (WS), salinity (SS), and the combined stresses (WS+SS) was monitored in two maize lines: the inbred B73 and an F1 commercial stress-tolerant hybrid. A protocol mimicking field progressive stress conditions was developed and its effect on plant growth analyzed at different time points. The results indicated that the stresses limited growth in the hybrid and arrested it in the inbred line. In SS, the two genotypes had different ion accumulation and translocation capacity, particularly for Na+ and Cl 12. Moreover, the hybrid perceived the stress, reduced all the analyzed physiological parameters, and kept them reduced until the recovery. B73 decreased all physiological parameters more gradually, being affected mainly by SS. Both lines recovered better from WS than the other stresses. Molecular analysis revealed a diverse modulation of some stress markers in the two genotypes, reflecting their different response to stresses. Combining biochemical and physiological data with expression analyses yielded insight into the mechanisms regulating the different stress tolerance of the two lines