Influence of Soil Chemical Features on Aromatic Profile of V. vinifera cv. Corvina Grapes and Wines: A Study-Case in Valpolicella Area (Italy) in a Calcareous and Non-Calcareous Soil

In the Valpolicella area (Verona, Italy) one of the most important Italian wines is being produced: Amarone, predominately made by Vitis vinifera cv. Corvina. This wine is subjected to a specific postharvest process, namely, withering, which aims to increase alcohol content and/or high residual sugars while retaining richness in aromas and organoleptic compounds. In accordance with guidelines and strict Amarone protocol set by the Consorzio of Amarone-Valpolicella, withering must be carried out by setting the grapes in a suitable environment. In our study, the withering process was performed following the traditional methods, i.e., in open-air, natural environmental conditions, as generally performed by winegrowers, leading to a weight loss in grapes of up to 30%. Whilst the effect of different postharvest conditions is clear and studied, it is interesting to know how soil can affect both grapes and wine profile, in terms of aromas, which are of great importance for this crafted wine. For this purpose, for two study years, the influence of two different sites (with regards to the carbonates’ content) on aromas were investigated. Furthermore, microvinifications and the sensory profile of the resulting wines were analysed. Our results clearly indicated that different soils’ characteristics, particularly differences in carbonate content, had an important effect, not only on the aromatic compounds of grapes and wines, but on the sensory profile as well. This information will help winegrowers and winemakers in the process of determining site selection for future vineyards in order to obtain a final optimum Amarone wine, in terms of its aromatic composition—one that is able to respond to the market demand

Post-translational deregulation of YAP1 is genetically controlled in rat liver cancer and determines the fate and stem-like behavior of the human disease

Previous studies showed that YAP1 is over-expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here we observed higher expression of Yap1/Ctgf axis in dysplastic nodules and HCC chemically-induced in F344 rats, genetically susceptible to hepatocarcinogenesis, than in lesions induced in resistant BN rats. In BN rats, highest increase in Yap1-tyr357, p73 phosphorylation and Caspase 3 cleavage occurred. In human HCCs with poorer prognosis ( 3 years survival; HCCB). In the latter, higher levels of phosphorylated YAP1-ser127, YAP1-tyr357 and p73, YAP1 ubiquitination, and Caspase 3 cleavage occurred. Expression of stemness markers NANOG, OCT-3/4, and CD133 were highest in HCCP and correlated with YAP1 and YAP1-TEAD levels. In HepG2, Huh7, and Hep3B cells, forced YAP1 over-expression led to stem cell markers expression and increased cell viability, whereas inhibition of YAP1 expression by specific siRNA, or transfection of mutant YAP1 which does not bind to TEAD, induced opposite alterations. These changes were associated, in Huh7 cells transfected with YAP1 or YAP1 siRNA, with stimulation or inhibition of cell migration and invasivity, respectively. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis showed that YAP1 transfection in Huh7 cells induces over-expression of genes involved in tumor stemness. In conclusion, Yap1 post-translational modifications favoring its ubiquitination and apoptosis characterize HCC with better prognosis, whereas conditions favoring the formation of YAP1-TEAD complexes are associated with aggressiveness and acquisition of stemness features by HCC cells

Comparing kaolin and pinolene to improve sustainable grapevine production during drought

Viticulture is widely practiced in dry regions, where the grapevine is greatly exposed to water stress. Optimizing plant water use efficiency (WUE) without affecting crop yield, grape and wine quality is crucial to limiting use of water for irrigation and to significantly improving viticulture sustainability. This study examines the use in vineyards of particle film technology (engineered kaolin) and compares it to a film-forming antitranspirant (pinolene), traditionally used to limit leaf water loss, and to an untreated control. The trial was carried out under field conditions over three growing seasons, during which moderate to very severe plant water stress (down to -1.9 MPa) was measured through stem water potential. Leaf stomatal conductance (gs ) and photosynthesis rate (An ) were measured during the seasons and used to compute intrinsic WUE (WUEi, defined as An /gs ratio). Leaf temperature was also recorded and compared between treatments. Bunch quantity, bunch and berry weight, sugar accumulation, anthocyanin and flavonoid contents were measured. Finally, microvinifications were performed and resultant wines subjected to sensory evaluation.Results showed that the use of kaolin increased grapevine intrinsic WUE (+18% on average as compared to unsprayed vines) without affecting berry and bunch weight and quantity, or sugar level. Anthocyanin content increased (+35%) in kaolin treatment, and the wine was judged more attractive (p-value <0.05) and slightly more appreciated (p-value < 0.1) than control. Pinolene did not increase WUEi, limiting An more than gs; grapes with this treatment contained lower sugar and anthocyanin content than control, and the obtained wine was the least appreciated. This study demonstrates that particle film technology can improve vine WUEi and wine quality at the same time, while traditional antitranspirants were not as effective for these purposes. This positive effect can be used in interaction with other already-demonstrated uses of particle film technology, such as pest control and sunburn reduction, in order to achieve more sustainable vineyard management. \ua9 2016 Brillante et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Triacontanol (long-chain alcohol) positively enhances the microbial ecology of berry peel in <i>Vitis vinifera</i> cv. ‘Glera’ yet promotes the must total soluble sugars content

Grapevine is one of the most important woody perennial crops in Italy, both in terms of cultivated area and economic income. In recent years, the identification of effective and integrated tools for plant nutrition and manipulation to improve plant health status in agriculture has become increasingly important to lead towards environmentally friendly viticulture. In this sense, plant-associated microbiota of berry carposphere structure and function significantly impact vines performance (must fermentation and final wine profile). For this, a recently developed biostimulant rich in triacontanol (TRIA) obtained from Fabaceae tissues has been tested in grapevine cv. Glera. Our study aimed to understand how TRIA application affected the fungal and prokaryotic communities, which is important for fermentation and the final wine olfactory profile. Taxonomical analysis revealed that TRIA application did not lead to significant differences in the number of species among kingdoms, therefore, not reducing the biodiversity of the grapevine carposphere. However, it did modify the ratio of certain species, such as increasing those with biocontrol effects and reducing the number of indigenous yeasts. Finally, the TRIA application resulted in a simple and cost-effective strategy to induce an earlier harvest with higher sugar content, which is important for fermentation. These results suggest the potential of using TRIA to obtain healthier grapes with cleaner sensory profiles during fermentation

Fertigation affects photosynthesis, modulation of secondary metabolism and sensory profiles of Vitis vinifera cv. “Schioppettino” withered grapes and wines

Nowadays a balance in plant production is required, especially in terms of nutrition, yield and for an optimal aroma and sensory profile of resulted wines. In this research, we compared two different methods of plant nutrition: one-single application (single-fertilization-SF) and two applications with the same amount adopting the fertigation (split fertigation-SpF), including a control not-treated, in a specific Italian region where grapevine Schiopettino cv. is being cultivated and this practice was not investigated yet. SpF promoted the photosynthesis parameters compared to a SF and to the non-treated vines (NTC). On these basis, the biological and physiological activity of the whole plant was enhanced. SpF treatment tendentially and significantly improved the qualitative, productive, physiological, and oenological parameters of “Schioppettino” wine

aberrant inos signaling is under genetic control in rodent liver cancer and potentially prognostic for the human disease

Mounting evidence underlines the role of inducible nitric oxidesynthase (iNOS) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develop-ment, but its functional interactions with pathways involved inHCC progression remain uninvestigated. Here, we analyzed inpreneoplastic and neoplastic livers from Fisher 344 and BrownNorway rats, possessing different genetic predisposition to HCC,in transforming growth factor-a (TGF-a) and c-Myc–TGF-atransgenic mice, characterized by different susceptibility toHCC, and in human HCC: (i) iNOS function and interactionswith nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) and Ha-RAS/extracellularsignal-regulated kinase (ERK) during hepatocarcinogenesis;(ii) influence of genetic predisposition to liver cancer on thesepathways and role of these cascades in determining a susceptibleor resistant phenotype and (iii) iNOS prognostic value in humanHCC. We found progressive iNos induction in rat and mouse liverlesions, always at higher levels in the most aggressive models rep-resented by HCC of rats genetically susceptible to hepatocarcino-genesis and c-Myc–TGF-a transgenic mice. iNOS, inhibitor of kBkinase/NF-kB and RAS/ERK upregulation was significantly higherin HCC with poorer prognosis (as defined by patients' survivallength) and positively correlated with tumor proliferation, genomicinstability and microvascularization and negatively with apoptosis.Suppression of iNOS signaling by aminoguanidine led to decreasedHCC growth and NF-kB and RAS/ERK expression and increasedapoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. Conversely, block of NF-kBsignaling by sulfasalazine or short interfering RNA (siRNA) orERK signaling by UO126 caused iNOS downregulation in HCCcell lines. These findings indicate that iNOS cross talk with NF-kB and Ha-RAS/ERK cascades influences HCC growth and prog-nosis, suggesting that key component of iNOS signaling could rep-resent important therapeutic targets for human HCC.IntroductionHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent anddeadliest human cancers worldwide. Current therapies do not improvesignificantly the prognosis of patients with unresectable HCC (1,2).This emphasizes the need to investigate the molecular mechanismsresponsible for HCC development to identify new targets for earlydiagnosis, chemoprevention and treatment.Numerous genes regulating susceptibility to HCC and controllinggrowth, progression and redifferentiation of preneoplastic and neo-plastic lesions have been mapped in rodents (3). Decrease in growthability and/or marked redifferentiation of preneoplastic lesion char-acterizes rodent strains resistant to hepatocarcinogenesis (3,4). Con-sequently, studies on the mechanisms underlying the acquisition ofa phenotype susceptible/resistantto hepatocarcinogenesis in rodentstrains, carrying preneoplastic lesions differently prone to progressto HCC, may lead to the discovery of prognostic markers and ther-apeutic targets for the human disease. Dysplastic nodules and HCCinduced in susceptible Fisher 344 (F344) rats show upregulation ofc-Myc, Cyclin D1, E and A and E2f1 genes, increased cyclinD1–Cdk4, cyclin E–Cdk2 and E2f1–Dp1 complexes and retinoblas-toma protein (pRb) hyperphosphorylation (4–6). These changes areabsent or less pronounced in liver lesions from resistant Brown Norway(BN) rats, where a block of

Diferentes sistemas de terminação e seus efeitos na carcaça e carne de novilhos angus superprecoces

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar características da carcaça, qualidade e atributos sensoriais da carne de novilhos Angus terminados em diferentes sistemas. Foram avaliadas três dietas de terminação: confinamento convencional (CC) baseado em silagem de milho e um concentrado comercial; confinamento alto grão (AG) composto de 85% milho grão + 15% de concentrado proteico-vitamínico-mineral; a pasto (AP) com suplementação energética de milho a 0,8% do peso vivo (PV), com pastagens de aveia, azevém, festuca e trevo mais 0,8% do peso vivo de milho grão durante 30 dias pré-abate. Foram utilizados 31 bovinos Aberdeen Angus castrados, com média de 12±2 meses de idade e peso inicial de 315±5 kg. A carne dos animais confinados (CC e AG) apresentou maior maciez (p&lt;0,0064) e intensidade de cor vermelha (p&lt;0,0001); os animais apresentaram maior área de olho de lombo (p&lt;0,036); na análise sensorial, maior suculência (p=0,0021), maciez (p&lt;0,0001) e aceitabilidade geral (p=0,0054) foram relatadas. Animais do tratamento AG apresentaram maior rendimento de carcaça (p&lt;0,001) e espessura de gordura subcutânea (p&lt;0,001). A coloração amarela da gordura (0h) foi maior nos tratamentos CC e AP (p&lt;0,0426). Houve variação entre os valores de pH no abate (0h), após resfriamento (24h) e da carne (48h) entre os tratamentos, entretanto dentro dos padrões. Foi produzida uma carne com maior qualidade, principalmente em termos de rendimento de carcaça, maciez e coloração da carne na terminação em confinamento. Na análise sensorial, consumidores preferiram a carne de animais confinados, CC ou AG, frente à carne de animais terminados a pasto com suplementação energética