The Effect of Cluster Position Determined by Vineyard Row Orientation on Grape Flavonoids and Aroma Profiles of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon and Italian Riesling in the North Foot of Tianshan Mountains

Vineyard row orientation plays a critical role in determining cluster microclimate. This study aimed tofigure out how cluster positions determined by vineyard row orientation affect grape flavonoids and aromaprofiles of Cabernet Sauvignon and Italian Riesling grapes. Three cluster positions (two canopy sidesand the inner canopy) of NS and EW oriented row Cabernet Sauvignon and NS oriented row ItalianRiesling were selected for the experiment. Microclimate data was monitored around clusters from bothcanopy sides of different row orientations. The south canopy side had higher daytime temperaturesand PAR than the north canopy side in EW row orientation. Flavonoids of grape skins and seeds wereseparated and determined by LC-MS, and aroma compounds of grape must were determined by GC-MS.Results showed that flavanols were affected by orientations, and EW orientation had higher berries skinflavanol concentration than NS orientation. EW-IN berries had fewer glucuronide form flavonols and3’-hydroxylated flavonols than the other two positions in EW orientation. Inner canopy berries had lowerflavonol concentration than other positions in EW orientation of CS and NS orientation of IR. To aromas,C6/C9 were the main compounds significantly affected by row orientations. EW orientation berries hadhigher C6 alcohols concentration such as (E)-3-Hexen-1-ol, (E)-2-Hexen-1-ol and (Z)-3-Hexen-1-ol thanNS orientation, while NS orientation berries had higher C6 aldehyde concentrations such as Hexanal and(E)-2-hexenal than EW orientation. EW-IN berries had more abundant C6/C9 compounds than the othertwo positions. The study provided preliminary scientific evidence for vineyard viticulture practice andharvest strategy

Efficient Prodrug Activator Gene Therapy by Retroviral Replicating Vectors Prolongs Survival in an Immune-Competent Intracerebral Glioma Model.

Prodrug activator gene therapy mediated by murine leukemia virus (MLV)-based retroviral replicating vectors (RRV) was previously shown to be highly effective in killing glioma cells both in culture and in vivo. To avoid receptor interference and enable dual vector co-infection with MLV-RRV, we have developed another RRV based on gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) that also shows robust replicative spread in a wide variety of tumor cells. We evaluated the potential of GALV-based RRV as a cancer therapeutic agent by incorporating yeast cytosine deaminase (CD) and E. coli nitroreductase (NTR) prodrug activator genes into the vector. The expression of CD and NTR genes from GALV-RRV achieved highly efficient delivery of these prodrug activator genes to RG-2 glioma cells, resulting in enhanced cytotoxicity after administering their respective prodrugs 5-fluorocytosine and CB1954 in vitro. In an immune-competent intracerebral RG-2 glioma model, GALV-mediated CD and NTR gene therapy both significantly suppressed tumor growth with CB1954 administration after a single injection of vector supernatant. However, NTR showed greater potency than CD, with control animals receiving GALV-NTR vector alone (i.e., without CB1954 prodrug) showing extensive tumor growth with a median survival time of 17.5 days, while animals receiving GALV-NTR and CB1954 showed significantly prolonged survival with a median survival time of 30 days. In conclusion, GALV-RRV enabled high-efficiency gene transfer and persistent expression of NTR, resulting in efficient cell killing, suppression of tumor growth, and prolonged survival upon CB1954 administration. This validates the use of therapeutic strategies employing this prodrug activator gene to arm GALV-RRV, and opens the door to the possibility of future combination gene therapy with CD-armed MLV-RRV, as the latter vector is currently being evaluated in clinical trials