Italians crack open DNA secrets of Pinot Noir
By Ben Hirschler
Reuters
Italian scientists have cracked open the genetic make-up of Pinot Noir, responsible for the great red wines of Burgundy, in a breakthrough that may lead to hardier vines and cheaper fine wines.
The researchers said on Wednesday they had found more than 2 million genetic variants within the Pinot Noir grape, providing winegrowers with a "treasure trove" in the hunt for new strains.
Pinot Noir, made famous by the 2004 film Sideways, has been dubbed the "heartbreak grape" because it is so difficult to grow and susceptible to disease.
Understanding what makes up the variety at the DNA level means it may now be possible to breed disease-resistant grapes without sacrificing taste, according to Riccardo Velasco, head of genetics at the Istituto Agrario San Michele all'Adige.
"Discovering these 2 million molecular markers is a tremendous tool which will help in the breeding not only of Pinot Noir but every cultivated grape variety," he said in an interview.
While the genome of Pinot Noir has been mapped in draft form before, Velasco and his team are the first to catalogue the myriad single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, found scattered amongst its 30,000 genes.
(Continued here.)
Reuters
Italian scientists have cracked open the genetic make-up of Pinot Noir, responsible for the great red wines of Burgundy, in a breakthrough that may lead to hardier vines and cheaper fine wines.
The researchers said on Wednesday they had found more than 2 million genetic variants within the Pinot Noir grape, providing winegrowers with a "treasure trove" in the hunt for new strains.
Pinot Noir, made famous by the 2004 film Sideways, has been dubbed the "heartbreak grape" because it is so difficult to grow and susceptible to disease.
Understanding what makes up the variety at the DNA level means it may now be possible to breed disease-resistant grapes without sacrificing taste, according to Riccardo Velasco, head of genetics at the Istituto Agrario San Michele all'Adige.
"Discovering these 2 million molecular markers is a tremendous tool which will help in the breeding not only of Pinot Noir but every cultivated grape variety," he said in an interview.
While the genome of Pinot Noir has been mapped in draft form before, Velasco and his team are the first to catalogue the myriad single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, found scattered amongst its 30,000 genes.
(Continued here.)
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