Aim of the study: The aim of the project was to provide an integrated technology platform supporting the production of typical wines of Piedmont, in terms of quality and safety.
Analyte: Proteins, nucleic acids, viruses, fungi.
Methodology: Three registered Nebbiolo clones grown under different sanitary status (healthy vs virus-infected) and under different environmental conditions (clay vs. sand and slope vs. plain! were considered. The effect of different environments and virus infection on phenological stages, vegetative behaviour and yield of clonal vines were recorded. Berry samples were collected at harvest for the determintion of juice qualittive compostion (soluble solids, pH, tartaric and malic acids), focusing the evalution on berry skin and seed poliphenols (anthocyanins, flavonols, catechins, stilbenes, etc.) and aromtic precursors (norisoprenoids, etc.). In the same berry samples, a proteomic analysis was performed. 2D protein maps of grapes were produced and compared. Differentially expressed proteins were examined in order to idetify those whose expression is associated with cutivtion environment or virus infetion. Soil and roots sampling were performed in order to evaluate the mycorrhiztion status of grapevine roots of healthy or infected plants, grown in the two environments. Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, present in vineyards planted to Nebbiolo
clones, were characterised by morphological and molecular techniques. The phytosanitary status of vineyards under observtion were screened, with special focus on grapevine viruses and grapevine yellowsphytoplasmas. The wines were analyzed, with paticular regard for the type and the amount of phenols, and ranked by means of sensory evalutions (colour, bouquet and taste). Specific protein markers of Nebbiolo idetity were characterized by performing protein screening and identifiction by 2DE and LC-MS/MS.
System: Wines, grapes and soils.
Customer: This study was performed in collaboration with the Agro-food Department of CNR; Enocontrol; Enosis; S.A.F.AN. BIOINFORMATICS; Fondazione per le Biotecnologie; Vignaioli Piemontesi.
Results: An integrated approach involving the use of both genomic and proteomic techniques allowed to identify the relationships between 1) the virus infection in vines and the grape and wine quality of Nebbiolo; 2) the different environments (slope, soil and climate) and the vine growth, yield and wine quality of Nebbiolo, 3) the sanitary status of clonal vines, the different cultivation environments and the grape and wine protein fingerprintings, with special reference to identification of typicality markers in grape and of allergenic proteins in wine; 4) the soil arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal composition and the clonal vine performances in different cultivation environments; 5) the sanitary status of vines and the quality of grapes and wines in terms of their protein fingerprintings and soil fungal AM composition in the vineyards.
Advantage of the methodology: An integrated approach allowed to better investigate some of the factors that may affect the quality and safety of DOC and DOCG wines based on Nebbiolo grapes (i.e Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Gattinara, etc.), by characterizing the areas of production, the crop and the final product.
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