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The ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) network of atmospheric measurement stations produces standardized data on greenhouse gas concentrations at 36 stations in 14 different European countries (November 2022). The network targets a strongly heterogeneous landscape and the placement of instruments on tall towers and mountains make for large influence regions (footprints). The combined footprints for all the individual stations create the “lens” through which the observing network sees the European flux landscape. In this study, we summarize this view using quantitative metrics of the fluxes seen by individual stations, and by the current and future ICOS network. Results are presented both from a country-level and pan-European perspective, using open-source tools that we make available through the ICOS Carbon Portal. We target anthropogenic emissions from various sectors (e.g., energy production, industrial emissions), as well as the land-cover types found over Europe (e.g., broadleaf forests, croplands) and their spatiotemporally varying fluxes. This recognizes different interests of different ICOS stakeholders. We specifically introduce “monitoring potential maps”, which quantify the sensitivity of the network with regards to specific properties of each pixel compared to the averages across all pixels, to see which regions have a relative underrepresentation of land-cover, or biospheric fluxes. This potential changes with the introduction of new stations, which we investigate for the planned ICOS expansion with 20 stations over the next few years. The monitoring potential concept is novel and a useful addition to traditional quantitative network design methods. We find that the ICOS network has limited sensitivity to anthropogenic fluxes, as was intended in the current design. Its representation of biospheric fluxes follows the fractional representation of land-cover and is generally well balanced, with exceptions for a country like Norway where the southerly station Birkenes predominantly senses coniferous forest fluxes instead of the more abundant northerly grass & shrublands. Grass & shrubland fluxes are relatively underrepresented in ICOS, with the largest monitoring potential in Scandinavia, Croatia, and Serbia. These easterly countries similarly show a relative underrepresentation of broadleaf forest fluxes, partly due to a lack of monitoring stations, and partly due to the abundant sensitivity to broadleaf forests in the most densely monitored countries such as France and Germany. We stress that this does not imply these latter countries to be fully monitored and of lesser interest for network expansion: for example, inclusion of Schauinsland in the future network expands the network lens to mostly unmonitored mixed- and broadleaf forests which are relatively underrepresented at the national level. Such considerations demonstrate the usefulness of our analyses and can readily be re-produced for any network configuration within Europe with tools offered through the Carbon Portal.

Background:‘Xynisteri’is the reference Cypriot white cultivar that, despite its significant societal and economic impact, ispoorly characterized regarding its qualitative properties, while scarce information exists regarding its aroma profile. In the cur-rent study, the effect of leaf removal during fruit set (BBCH 71) on 6-year cordon-trained, spur-pruned grapevines was assessedand an array of physiological, biochemical, and qualitative indices were monitored during successive developmental stages(BBCH 75, BBCH 85, BBCH 87, and BBCH 89). Grapes were additionally monitored for the volatile organic compounds (VOCs)profile during the advanced on-vine developmental stages (BBCH 85–BBCH 89) with the employment of gaschromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), Fourier-transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectra and electronic nose (E-nose)techniques.Results: Grape berries from the vines subjected to leaf removal were characterized by higher solid soluble sugars (SSC), titrat-able acidity (TA), tartaric acid, and ammonium nitrogen contents, while this was not the case for assimilable amino nitrogen(primary amino nitrogen). A total of 75 compounds were identified and quantified, including aliphatic alcohols, benzenic com-pounds, phenols, vanillins, monoterpenes, and C13-norisoprenoids. Leaf removal led to enhanced amounts of glycosylatedaroma compounds, mainly monoterpenes, and C13-norisoprenoids. Chemometric analysis, used through FT-NIR and E-nose,showed that the aromatic patterns detected were well associated to the grape ripening trend and differences between leafremoval-treated and control grapes were detectable during fully ripe stage.Conclusion: Leaf removal at fruit set resulted in an overall induction of secondary metabolism, with special reference to glyco-sylated aroma compounds, namely monoterpenes and C13-norisoprenoids

Wildfires have been effectively suppressed in the managed boreal forests of Fennoscandia for over a century. However, recent extremely hot and dry summers have highlighted the vulnerability of these forests to increasing wildfire frequency as a result of climate change. The carbon stored by managed forests plays a key role in many national climate mitigation strategies and more data is needed to assess how forest management shapes the carbon balance of these forests, including those recovering from wildfire. We established two eddy covariance towers in the area burnt by the Ljusdal fire, which affected over 9000 ha during the extreme 2018 wildfire season in Sweden. The two towers measured CO2 fluxes during the first four growing seasons after the fire at two Pinus sylvestris stands with contrasting fire impacts and forest management schemes. At one site, a mature stand had survived low severity fire but was then salvage-logged and reseeded (6 months after the fire), whilst the other site represented a young stand that was killed by high severity fire and replanted with Pinus sylvestris seedlings (2 years after the fire). After the fire, both sites were net CO2 sources at the annual scale. However, the site with dead young trees and replanted seedlings showed a faster recovery towards becoming a CO2 sink, with days of net CO2 uptake during the peak of the growing season three years after the fire. Preliminary results suggest that similar magnitudes of carbon were emitted as CO2 in the first 4 years after the fire compared to the carbon emitted during the fire itself, underlining the importance of monitoring forest CO2 fluxes and the impacts of management decisions during the initial post-fire years.

Computational notebooks (e.g. Jupyter notebook) are a popular choice for interactive scientific computing to convey descriptive information together with executable source code. The user can annotate the scientific development of the work, the methods applied, describe ancillary data or the analysis of results, with text, illustrations, figures, and equations. Such ‘executable’ documents provide a paradigm shift in scientific writing, where not only the science is described, but the actual computation and source code are openly available and can be reproduced and validated.Therefore, it is of paramount importance to preserve these documents. A unique and persistent identification (PID) is essential together with providing enough information to execute the source code. Generating a PID for a Jupyter notebook is not technically challenging. We can automatically collect system and run-time information and, with a guided workflow for the user, assemble a rich set of metadata. The collected information allows us to recreate the computational environment and run the source code, which in return (theoretically) should produce the same results as published.The importance of providing a rich set of metadata for all digital objects in a human readable and machine actionable form is well understood and widely accepted as necessity for reproducibility, traceability, and provenance. This is reflected in the FAIR principles (Wilkinson, https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18) which are regarded as gold standard by many scientific communities.Pimentel et al. (https://doi.org/10.1109/MSR.2019.00077) analysed over 800’000 Jupyter notebooks from GitHub. 24 % executed without errors and only 4 % produced the same results. The likelihood to successfully compile and run a decade old source code is slim. Long term support for well established operating systems varies between 5 to 10 years, user software support is usually shorter and looking at free and open-source repositories there is often no support (or best effort) offered.We present an approach to safely reproduce the computational environment in the future with a focus on long-term availability. Instead of trying to reinstall the computational environment based on the stored metadata, we propose to archive the docker image, the user space (user installed packages) and finally the source code. Recreating the system in this way is more like restoring a backup, where backup is the equivalent of an entire computer system. It does not solve all the problems but removes a great deal of complexity and uncertainty.Though there are shortcomings in our approach, we believe our solution will lower the threshold for scientists to provide rich meta data, code and results attached to a publication that can be reproduced in the far future.

By continuously monitoring greenhouse gas emissions from densely populated urban areas, we can independently assess and monitor emission reduction efforts at a policy-relevant scale. The EU-funded project PAUL (Pilot Application in Urban Landscapes - Towards integrated city observatories for greenhouse gases) develops, evaluates, and refines innovative greenhouse gas monitoring technologies including observational strategies for urban areas that enhance the capabilities of the Integrated Carbon Observation System at urban scales (ICOS Cities). In 2022, three pilot observatories have been set up to test, refine and optimize approaches for monitoring emissions from a metropolitan area (Paris, France), a large isolated city (Munich, Germany) and a mid-size city (Zurich, Switzerland). The three observatories have been developed in a co-design approach and integrated different observational technologies in support of inverse and inventory modelling. The pilot observatories focus on carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from fossil-fuel sources.The three observatories operate for a pilot phase of two years and collect comparative data across cities with a multitude of instrument networks that serve three main goals: (1) to assess the input for inverse models of CO2 at city-scale and attribute inferred CO2 emissions to sub-city scale and emission sectors; (2) to refine spatial, temporal, and sectoral attribution of emissions in emission inventories and parametrize process models that separate urban fossil-fuel and biogenic fluxes; and (3) as independent validation datasets to evaluate estimated emission products.In all three cities, CO2 concentrations and selected co-emitted species are continuously sampled on tall towers, on top of high buildings and/or at street level. In the Paris metropolitan area, 10 tall tower sites and 30 roof-top sites continuously measure high-precision CO2 and co-emitted species in the boundary layer upwind, over and downwind of the city. The Munich and Zurich observatories feature a combination of roof-top and street-level sensor networks placed closer to sources and sinks, with a stronger signal strength that is more forgiving in terms of the sensitivity, hence allowing the deployment of mid- and low-cost sensors. In Paris and Munich, additionally, total column observations of CO2 are performed upwind, over and downwind of the main urban emission sources using concurrent ground-based FTIR spectrometers. Three new tall-tower eddy-covariance (EC) systems have been established in central Paris, Munich and Zurich. The EC-towers provide total CO2 fluxes for defined sub-areas of each city and their characteristic diurnal, weekly and seasonal cycles. Further, the three EC-towers provide sector-specific emission ratios and fossil-fuel CO2 fluxes based on differences of measured CO2-fluxes, six co-emitted species and radiocarbon fluxes. Finally, all cities have observational systems in place that monitor biogenic fluxes, vegetation dynamics and meteorological conditions, including lidars for wind and mixed layer determination for an improved quantitative description of atmospheric transport and vertical mixing.We highlight design considerations for the three observatories and exemplarily show how multi-scale systems can efficiently complement and constrain fossil-fuel emissions in urban areas. Knowledge and experience from these observations will feed into the establishment of guidelines for operational greenhouse gas monitoring systems in European cities on their way to climate neutrality.

Generation of soil water content data takes place in numerous research institutions across Europe, each arranging, describing and implementing its data collection in ways that fit purposes, conventions, standards, terminologies, and limitations specific to their case. This practice drives data consumers into a maze of portals, services, people, and ad hoc approaches, while data – when eventually obtained - is often interpretable in different ways, depending on where it comes from.The situation could improve by making data and metadata more FAIR across institutions. Hence, the effort of ENVRI-FAIR to harmonise data and services, part of which is the presented use case that gathered the contribution of six research entities: LifeWatch ERIC, AnaEE, ICOS, SIOS, DANUBIUS-RI, and eLTER. A means to improve FAIRness is the stack of semantic web technologies, which add semantics to metadata schemata, dataset structures, and data itself. Semantics allow data consumers to search for data using their preferred terms, to interpret search results correctly, and to link together data of different provenance in order to reuse it. Data querying and processing also become more meaningful with semantics, as all fields and values now refer or map to a common semantic model, creating a single network of (meta)data (Knowledge Graph). Eventually, all nodes and links of the graph carry meaning and are potentially queryable from a single endpoint, even if they may partly reside in separate repositories.The solution we implemented makes use of a semantic model, a set of queries to retrieve information from the model, and a web application to run the queries and serve the output. The model is constructed as a mash-up of new and existing semantic entities and relationships. Entities of the graph were initially defined based on the netCDF structure of the AnaEE data series, a number of complex search queries submitted in text by the project participants, and a list of concepts to describe soil data context. The entities were then connected structurally, either with OWL and RDFS properties or with ad hoc relationships, working principally in agreement with the participants, who acted as domain experts, data producers, and data consumers. Eventually, entities were mapped to or replaced by externally defined ones from well-established and recognised semantic artefacts. The reused components of the graph include ontologies, controlled vocabularies for application interoperability and for domain expertise (e.g., the AnaEE thesaurus, DCAT, GeoSPARQL), and the SKOS model for linking domain thesauri.The final service is a desktop web application – a dashboard - built with Angular framework and with a semantic graph database (GraphDB) at its backend, and serves as an entry point for (meta)data in the model. Among others, users may search for datasets by type of soil texture or pedological class in the site where data was collected, or they may search using terms from the thesaurus of their preference. Spatial search and dataset location are also enabled, while results are aggregated in tables and histograms and they are visually rendered on an interactive map.

The effects of intercropping grapevines with the medicinal aromatic plants (MAPs) basil, lemon balm and sage, on berry volatile compounds of grapevine cv. Sangiovese were evaluated under field conditions. MAPs were cultivated in the rows of a mature vineyard. The introduction of MAPs in the vineyards slowed down technological ripening and increased total VOCs in Sangiovese berries. Among the different VOCs classes, C13-norisoprenoids, vanillins, and phenols showed significantly higher concentrations in berries of grapevine intercropped with MAPs. The presence of MAPs enhanced berry concentration of: vomifoliol (C13-norisoprenoids), homovanillic alcohol, and homovanillic acid (vanillins), 4-vinylguaiacol, syringol and 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenol (phenols) and 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol (aliphatic alcohols), while reducing the level of p-cymen-7-ol, 1-hexanol and nerol. Data suggest that intercropping with MAPs could influence the accumulation of VOCs in grapevines and contribute to the composition and volatile profile of this cultivar.

The success of olive (Olea europaea) orchards depends on the interaction between genotype, planting system and orchard management. Research efforts often collide with the lack of high-throughput monitoring technologies for effective and rapid evaluation of expressed phenotypes under field conditions. Rapid phenotyping technologies allow to acquire a large amount of information in a relatively short period, optimizing efforts and labor. In an experiment carried out in Sicily, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with VIS-NIR cameras was used to monitor canopy characteristics of three olive cultivars (‘Koroneiki’, ‘Biancolilla’ and ‘Calatina’), planted at three different planting distances (PD) (4×4, 4×3 and 4×2 m). Vegetative indices and canopy geometrical characteristics were calculated by means of the map algebra technique and structure from motion technique, respectively. Significant differences in the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) and green normalized differential vegetation index (GNDVI) values were measured for the different combinations of cultivars and PD. In particular, the highest and lowest values of NDVI and GNDVI indices were measured in Koroneiki (4×4 m) and ‘Calatina’ (4×3 m) plots, respectively. There was a linear relation between NDVI and pruning removed, expressed on both mass and volume per tree, for all cultivar × PD combinations. Tree canopy volume, estimated by the UAV-VIS camera technique, was higher in Koroneiki than in ‘Calatina’, with intermediate values measured in ‘Biancolilla’. The more spaced trees (4×4 m) had bigger canopies (6.4 m3) than those planted at 4×2 m (5.7 m3), but when the volume was expressed as m3 of canopy per m2 of soil the opposite trend was observed. The higher canopy volume per square meter was related to a higher fraction of intercepted PAR measured at noon. Our results indicate potential application of the UAV-VIS-NIR technique to determine canopy characteristics of different planting systems and cultivars of olive.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are beneficial microorganisms that may associate with grapevine roots, improving stress tolerance, growth, and nutrition. AM fungi and PGPR enhance the production of plant secondary metabolites, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that play a key role in the interaction of plants with the environment and are involved in defence mechanisms. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of an AM fungus and a rhizobacterium on plant growth and VOCs in Vitis vinifera cv. Cabernet Sauvignon roots to gain insight into the potential role of plant-rhizosphere microorganisms in vine growth and defence. Grapevines were inoculated or not with the AM fungus Funneliformis mosseae IN101 and/or the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Ensifer meliloti TSA41. Both microbial strains enhanced plant growth. Fifty-eight VOCs extracted from ground roots were identified using headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. VOCs were induced by F. mosseae IN101, increasing up to 87% compared with control plants. Monoterpenes were strongly enhanced by F. mosseae IN101, increasing up to 113% compared with control plants. Interestingly, monoterpene alcohols related to plant defence, such as myrtenol, p-cymen-7-ol, and p-mentha-1.8-dien-7-ol were increased. By contrast, E. meliloti TSA41 did not significantly affect VOCs. The knowledge of the effects of AM fungi and PGPR on grapevine VOCs may contribute to an integrated and sustainable management of vineyards.

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of full irrigation (FI), pre-veraison water deficit (RDI 1), or post-veraison water deficit (RDI 2) on growth, yield, and berry quality in container-grown, mature vines of cv. Sangiovese grafted onto either 1103P or SO4 rootstock over two consecutive growing seasons. Deficit irrigation regimes significantly affected vine water status of both rootstocks before and after veraison. Trunk diameter (TD) increment was markedly affected when water was restricted early, but not in the post-veraison period. Deficit irrigation from fruit set to veraison inhibited vegetative growth (TD, canopy volume, and weight of pruned wood) more than that applied from veraison to harvest. Yield was unaffected by either irrigation or rootstock in both years. Irrigation had a marked effect on berry and juice quality: the RDI 1 treatment induced the highest berry anthocyanin concentration, and the lowest titratable acidity (TA), which, instead, increased in the RDI 2 treatment. RDI treatments did not modify berry dry weight, soluble solid content, TA, anthocyanins, and epicarp total phenols in vines on both rootstocks.

Amarone is a wine produced from withered grapes of Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella varieties. The berries’ water loss in the withering process, combined with berry senescence, results in significant metabolic changes. Here, we report on changes in malic acid, total polyphenols, and aroma compounds of three single Amarone varieties during withering. Grape bunches of the three varieties were withered in a commercial facility, and weight loss (WL) was measured to determine the time of sampling of grapes for analyses (10, 20, 30, and 50% WL). Rondinella grapes lost weight faster than did Corvina and Corvinone grapes. Malic acid decreased rapidly in all varieties, but in Rondinella grapes with 20% WL, malic acid subsequently increased. Total polyphenols rose slightly in grapes with 20% WL, and their content then increased more than could be attributed to concentration effects. At harvest, the aroma compounds that were initially present at high concentrations and decreased during withering were 6-methoxy-3-methylbenzofuran; 4-vinylguaiacol; 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl alcohol; vomifoliol; and coumaran, which were detected in all varieties, reaching the highest concentrations in Corvinone. During withering, most of these markers showed a peak at 10% or 20% WL in Rondinella grapes, whereas in Corvinone, they peaked at 20% WL as in Corvina grapes, which also exhibited a concentration peak of some compounds at 30% WL. We conclude that not all grape varieties behave in the same way in withering; therefore, it is necessary that winemakers know the weight loss (and the time) at which the best aromatic expression is reached to determine the optimal processing stage of a variety. By matching malic acid trends with those of aroma compounds, we propose that malic acid could be a useful tool for monitoring the changes in aroma compounds during grape withering.

The Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) provides long term, high quality observations that follow (and cooperatively set) the global standards for the best possible quality data on the atmospheric composition for greenhouse gases (GHG), greenhouse gas exchange fluxes measured by eddy covariance and CO2 partial pressure at water surfaces. The ICOS observational data feeds into a wide area of science that covers for example plant physiology, agriculture, biology, ecology, energy & fuels, forestry, hydrology, (micro)meteorology, environmental, oceanography, geochemistry, physical geography, remote sensing, earth-, climate-, soil- science and combinations of these in multi-disciplinary projects.As ICOS is committed to provide all data and methods in an open and transparent way as free data, a dedicated system is needed to secure the long term archiving and availability of the data together with the descriptive metadata that belongs to the data and is needed to find, identify, understand and properly use the data, also in the far future, following the FAIR data principles. An added requirement is that the full data lifecycle should be completely reproducible to enable full trust in the observations and the derived data products.In this presentation we will introduce the ICOS operational data repository named ICOS Carbon Portal that is based on the linked open data approach. All metadata is modelled in an ontology coded in OWL and based on a RDF triple store that is available through an open SparQL endpoint. The repository supports versioning, collections and models provenance through a simplified Prov-O ontology. All data objects are ingested under strict control for the identified data types on provision of the correct and sufficient (provenance) metadata, data format and data integrity. All data, including raw data, is stored in the long term trusted repository B2SAFE with two replicates. On top of the triple store and SparQL endpoint we have built a series of services, APIs and graphical interfaces that allow machines to machine and user interaction with the data and metadata. Examples are a full faceted search with connected data cart and download facility, preview of higher level data products (time series of point observations and spatial data), and cloud computing services like eddy covariance data processing and on demand atmospheric footprint calculations, all connected to the observational data from ICOS. Another interesting development is the community support for scientific workflows using Jupyter notebook services that connect to our repository through a dedicated python library for direct metadata and data access.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are beneficial obligate symbionts of plant roots. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) participate in plant communication and defence. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Funneliformis mosseae IMA1 on VOCs in Vitis vinifera cv. Sangiovese leaf tissue. Grapevine plants inoculated with F. mosseae IMA1 were incubated for 23 weeks. VOCs were extracted from leaves and identified using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS–SPME) coupled to GC-MS. VOCs in leaf tissue were strongly enhanced (85%) by F. mosseae IMA1. The mycorrhizal fungus IMA1 modified the levels of specific VOCs synthesised in different anabolic pathways. An increase in volatiles that have been related to plant defences under pathogen/herbivore attack or linked to water stress, such as (E)–2–hexenal, 3–hexenal, geraniol, benzaldehyde and methyl salicylate, was observed in mycorrhizal plants. In contrast, some C13–norisoprenoids decreased strongly in mycorrhizal plants. The study of the effects of AMF on VOCs in grapevine plants may provide useful information to establish sustainable viticultural practices.

Instruments play an essential role in creating research data. Given the importance of instruments and associated metadata to the assessment of data quality and data reuse, globally unique, persistent and resolvable identification of instruments is crucial. The Research Data Alliance Working Group Persistent Identification of Instruments (PIDINST) developed a community-driven solution for persistent identification of instruments which we present and discuss in this paper. Based on an analysis of 10 use cases, PIDINST developed a metadata schema and prototyped schema implementation with DataCite and ePIC as representative persistent identifier infrastructures and with HZB (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin f\"ur Materialien und Energie) and BODC (British Oceanographic Data Centre) as representative institutional instrument providers. These implementations demonstrate the viability of the proposed solution in practice. Moving forward, PIDINST will further catalyse adoption and consolidate the schema by addressing new stakeholder requirements.

Methyl jasmonate (MeJA) was applied in a vineyard on leaves and grape clusters of cv Sangiovese to test its ability to stimulate the production of aromas and identify the main genes involved in the biosynthetic pathways switched on by the elicitor. MeJA application led to a delay in grape technological maturity and a significant increase in the concentration of several berry aroma classes (about twice the total aroma: from around 3 to 6 μg/g of berry). Of these, monoterpenes showed the most significant increase. An analysis of the expression of terpenoid biosynthesis genes confirmed that the MeJA application activated the related biosynthetic pathway. The expression of all the TPS genes analyzedwas higher in samples treated with MeJA. Also the wines produced by microvinification of Sangiovese treated and untreated grapes showed a rise in the aroma concentration as in berries, with an important impact on longevity and sensorial characters of wines.

This paper provides data for the potential use of a color chart to establish the best quality of white wine grapes destined for postharvest processing. Grechetto, Vermentino and Muscat of Alexandria white wine grape varieties were tested by sampling berries at different dates during their quality attribute evolution. A color chart and reflectance spectrocolorimeter were used in combination with analyses of total carotenoids and chlorophylls in all three varieties and of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Grechetto alone.; Results: Total carotenoids decreased from 0.85 to 0.76 µg g-1 in Grechetto berries and from 0.70 to 0.46 µg g-1 in Vermentino berries while increased from 0.70 to 0.80 µg g-1 in Muscat berries during ripening. Total chlorophylls decreased in all varieties, and a strict correlation was found between hue angle (measured by color chart or spectrocolorimeter) and chlorophyll disappearance, with R2 ranging from 0.81 to 0.95 depending on the variety. VOCs were only measured in Grechetto grapes, and a significant increase in glycosylation was found with ripening. The concentration of different classes of VOCs exhibited a clear decrease during ripening, except for terpenoids and esters which showed a peak at the beginning. The benzenoid class reached the highest concentration, which was almost 50% of the total. Cluster analysis using Ward's method enabled the best grape quality to be identified.; Conclusion: This experimental work highlights that a color chart is cheap and easy to use to define the right quality stage for white wine grapes. The color chart enabled the enochemical features to be matched with the VOC results for the aromatic maturity of Grechetto. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Amarone wine is different from regular dry wine due to the postharvest withering of Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes. Grapes were withered in a commercial facility with variability in terms of temperature and relative humidity (R.H.). Sugar content reached 230-240gL(-1) and 280gL(-1) at 20% and 30% mass loss, respectively. Most of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) decreased during withering but few VOCs increased during withering and we considered as markers; in Corvinone they were methylhexanoate, dimethylsuccinate, nerol, nonanoic acid, and benzyl alcohol; in Corvina, benzyl alcohol, isoamyl alcohol, 1-hexanol, p-cymen-8-ol, 2,3 pinanediol, 3-oxo-ionol and 3-methyl-1-pentanol, coumaran and damascenone; in Rondinella, hexanol, nonanoic acid, methyl vanillate, damascenone, 3-oxo-ionol, eugenol, p-cymen-8-ol, 2,3 pinanediol, coumaran and raspberry keton. Olfactive descriptors of the wines and the potential aroma of the combination of Corvina wine with the wines of the other two varieties at different percentages of mass loss are reported.

Suckering is the process of removing the suckers that grapevine trunks put out in the spring. Suckering by hand is costly and time consuming and requires constant bending down, getting up and making repetitive motions. The mechanical removal of suckers with rotating scourges can damage the vine plants. Chemical suckering is a limiting factor for wine grape growers interested in sustainable and/or organic agriculture. The aim of this research was to test flaming as an alternative method to vine suckering. A three-year experiment was conducted on a 10-year-old Sangiovese vine (775 Paulsen rootstock). The treatments consisted of flame suckering at different phenological stages, hand-suckering and a no-suckered control. Data on the number of suckers, grape yield components, and grape composition were collected and analysed. The results showed that flaming significantly reduced the initial number of suckers. This effect on the suckers was highest when the main productive shoots of the vines were at the 18-19 BBCH growth stage. Flame-suckering did not affect grape yield components and grape composition. Future studies could investigate the simultaneous use of flaming for both suckering and weed control.

Background: In this work, we evaluated the aromatic composition of berries at harvest and during the whole berry development of Aleatico, Brachetto, Malvasia di Candia aromatica and Moscato bianco grapevine varieties, which were cultivated in the same vineyard and under the same agricultural conditions.; Results: Malvasia had a total concentration of aroma which was significantly higher than the other grapes that showed comparable amounts with each other. The class of monoterpenes was quantitatively predominant for all four grapes, in the free and in the most plentiful bound form. In Malvasia and Aleatico there was a high prevalence of geraniol derivatives throughout the entire berry development while in Brachetto and in Moscato there was a prevalence of linalool derivatives during the green phase and geraniol derivatives during ripening.; Conclusion: The study of the monoterpene profile allowed us to highlight similarities and differences among the four aromatic varieties and to present a hypothesis about their biosynthetic dynamics. This information is useful for further studies on gene functional characterisation and the regulation of these important berry pathways. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Background: Environmental factors have been acknowledged to greatly influence grape and wine aromas. Among them, the effect of altitude on grape aroma compounds has scarcely been debated in literature available to date. In the present study, we investigated the influence of altitude on grape composition and aroma evolution during ripening of Vitis vinifera L. cultivar Glera grown in Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG area (Italy).; Results: The site at highest altitude (380 m above sea level) was warmer than the lowest site (200 m above sea level) and, even with differences in temperature in the range 1.5-2 °C, the impact of the cultivation site on grape ripening and aroma accumulation and preservation was significant. The lowest site demonstrated slower grape ripening, and grapes at harvest accumulated lower amounts of all of the main classes of aroma compounds typical of the Glera variety. Wines produced from the highest site were preferred in tasting trials for their more patent floral notes and elegance.; Conclusion: Altitude strongly influences grape ripening evolution and flavour accumulation in the Glera grape, and this result accounts for the different styles in the sparkling wines subsequently produced. Moreover, the present study shows that aroma compound biosynthesis, particularly that of benzenoides, starts before veraison in Glera. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

The availability of transcriptomic data sequence is a key step for functional genomics studies. Recently, a repertoire of predicted genes of a Japanese cultivar of fig (Ficus carica L.) was released. Because of the great phenotypic variability that can be found in this species, we decided to study another fig genotype, the Italian cv. Dottato, in order to perform comparative studies between the two cultivars and extend the pan genome of this species. We isolated, sequenced and assembled fig genomic DNA from young fruits of cv. Dottato. Then, putative gene sequences were predicted and annotated. Finally, a comparison was performed between cvs. Dottato and Horaishi predicted transcriptomes. Our data provide a resource (available at the Sequence Read Archive database under SRP109082) to be used for functional genomics of fig, in order to fill the gap of knowledge still existing in this species concerning plant development, defense and adaptation to the environment.

The aim of this investigation was to recover, characterize, and increase the value of local grapevine varieties from Garfagnana, a mountainous area situated in the north of Tuscany (located in central Italy). A total of 130 accessions (vines) were identified in old Garfagnana vineyards, characterized by Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin morphological-phenological and productive parameters, and genotyped with 14 microsatellite loci. The microsatellite analysis identified 50 genotypes. Some of these genotypes matched Tuscan genotypes, others corresponded to varieties cultivated in other Italian and European regions, and 18 appeared to be genotypes currently identified only in Garfagnana and presumably autochthonous to this area. Cluster and similarity analyses based on both microsatellite and morphology data indicated a clear grouping of the majority of the autochthonous genotypes from Garfagnana. A parentage analysis revealed that the Garfagnana autochthonous genotypes are highly first degree–related among each other, suggesting that Garfagnana is a distinct historical center of diversity of cultivated varieties. The data from all varieties have been entered into the Italian Vitis Database (www.vitisdb.it).

Plants produce a plethora of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are important in determining the quality and nutraceutical properties of horticultural food products, including the taste and aroma of wine. Given that some of the most prevalent grape aroma constituents are terpenoids, we investigated the possible variations in the relative expression of terpene synthase (TPS) genes that depend on the organ. We thus analysed mature leaves, young leaves, stems, young stems, roots, rachis, tendrils, peduncles, bud flowers, flowers and berries of cv Moscato bianco in terms of their VOC content and the expression of 23 TPS genes. In terms of the volatile characterization of the organs by SPME/GC-MS analysis, flower buds and open flowers appeared to be clearly distinct from all the other organs analysed in terms of their high VOC concentration. Qualitatively detected VOCs clearly separated all the vegetative organs from flowers and berries, then the roots and rachis from other vegetative organs and flowers from berries, which confirms the specialization in volatile production among different organs. Our real-time RT-PCR results revealed that the majority of TPS genes analysed exhibited detectable transcripts in all the organs investigated, while only some were found to be expressed specifically in one or just a few organs. In most cases, we found that the known products of the in vitro assay of VvTPS enzymes corresponded well to the terpenes found in the organs in which the encoding gene was expressed, as in the case of (E)-β-caryophyllene synthases, α-terpineol synthase and α-farnesene synthase. In addition, we found groups of homologous TPS genes, such as (E)-β-caryophyllene and β-ocimene synthases, expressed distinctively in the various tissues. This thus confirmed the subfunctionalization events and a specialization on the basis of the organs in which they are mostly expressed.

Most historical sources that describe the presence of Romanesco variety in vine-growing areas of Lazio Region (Italy) highlighted the variability of morphological traits within the variety. This partly justifies the presence of different synonyms, true or presumed, reported by many authors for this grape variety. With the aim of analysing this variability, eight accessions related to the variety, collected in Lazio Region and grown in the DAFNE grape germplasm collection, have been characterized over five productive seasons. The ampelographic description was carried out using 50 OIV morphological descriptors and ampelometric analyses were carried out on mature leaves by SuperAmpelo software. The DNA of the different accessions, extracted from young leaves, was analyzed using 14 microsatellite loci. Furthermore, at harvest, the grapes of each accession were sampled to assess main compositive characteristics. Results showed differences among accessions on some ampelographic descriptors of the mature leaf, of the bunch, and on phenological stages. Microsatellite profiles allowed for classification of the accessions into three distinct groups. Qualitative analysis of the berry skin showed differences among accessions in the content of the main classes of phenolic compounds.

A nondestructive fluorescence-based technique for evaluating Vitis vinifera L. grape maturity using a portable sensor (Multiplex) is presented. It provides indices of anthocyanins and chlorophyll in Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sangiovese red grapes and of flavonols and chlorophyll in Vermentino white grapes. The good exponential relationship between the anthocyanin index and the actual anthocyanin content determined by wet chemistry was used to estimate grape anthocyanins from in field sensor data during ripening. Marked differences were found in the kinetics and the amount of anthocyanins between cultivars and between seasons. A sensor-driven mapping of the anthocyanin content in the grapes, expressed as g·kg(-1) fresh weight, was performed on a 7-ha vineyard planted with Sangiovese. In the Vermentino, the flavonol index was favorably correlated to the actual content of berry skin flavonols determined by means of HPLC analysis of skin extracts. It was used to make a nondestructive estimate of the evolution in the flavonol concentration in grape berry samplings. The chlorophyll index was inversely correlated in a linear manner to the total soluble solids (°Brix): it could, therefore, be used as a new index of technological maturity. The fluorescence sensor (Multiplex) possesses a high potential for representing an important innovative tool for controlling grape maturity in precision viticulture.

Purpose Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) circulate into peripheral blood and significantly contribute to neo-vascularisation and re-endothelialisation as part of the process of vascular repair. Several studies have reported decreased EPC number in the presence of oxidative stress. Aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of mucoadhesive polymeric nanoparticles as a delivery system of natural products able to protect EPCs from oxidative stress. Methods The total polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of red grape seed extract (GSE) either pre-veraison (p-GSE) or ripe (r-GSE) were measured. Cell viability was evaluated by WST-1 assay. Nanoparticles were prepared by ionotropic crosslinking of two structurally different thiolated quaternary ammonium-chitosan conjugates. A hyaluronic acid solution, containing p-GSE or r-GSE, was added to a stirred solution of each of the two chitosan derivatives to obtain p- or r-GSE loaded nanoparticles (NP) of two types. Results Both GSE types demonstrated strong antioxidant capacity. p-GSE showed a higher content in total polyphenols compared to r-GSE. NP size was in the 310–340 nm range, with 24 h stability, and nearly 100% encapsulation efficiency for both GSE types. NP were internalized by cells to an extent related directly with their surface charge intensity. GSE-NP uptake significantly improved cell viability and resistance to oxidation. Conclusions Nanotechnology has a great potential in nutraceutical delivery. The present results suggest that NP is a highly promising polyphenol carrier system particularly useful to protect EPCs from oxidative stress, thus improving their survival.

SummaryDuring an ongoing effort to recover and preserve local germplasm, 14 accessions of indigenous minor grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars from the Umbria Region, Central Italy, were chosen because they had been neglected and were threatened with extinction. Their phenotypic and genetic characteristics were evaluated through an ampelographic study of their shoots, mature leaves, bunches, and berries and by genomic analysis using an international set of nine microsatellite (simple sequence repeat; SSR) markers (VVS2, VVMD5, VVMD7, VVMD27, VrZAG62, VrZAG79, VVMD25, VVMD28, and VVMD32). Comparisons of the SSR profiles of all 14 accessions with grapevine accessions in several databases permitted the identification of unique genotypes, as well as possible synonyms. Information on these older, neglected cultivars will help to reduce the genetic erosion of grapevine germplasm, improve conservation and possible recovery, and assist in the future production of new, distinctive wines.

Background Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is an economically important crop with a wide geographical distribution, reflecting its ability to grow successfully in a range of climates. However, many vineyards are located in regions with seasonal drought, and these are often predicted to be global climate change hotspots. Climate change affects the entire physiology of grapevine, with strong effects on yield, wine quality and typicity, making it difficult to produce berries of optimal enological quality and consistent stability over the forthcoming decades. Results Here we investigated the reactions of two grapevine cultivars to water stress, the isohydric variety Montepulciano and the anisohydric variety Sangiovese, by examining physiological and molecular perturbations in the leaf and berry. A multidisciplinary approach was used to characterize the distinct stomatal behavior of the two cultivars and its impact on leaf and berry gene expression. Positive associations were found among the photosynthetic, physiological and transcriptional modifications, and candidate genes encoding master regulators of the water stress response were identified using an integrated approach based on the analysis of topological co-expression network properties. In particular, the genome-wide transcriptional study indicated that the isohydric behavior relies upon the following responses: i) faster transcriptome response after stress imposition; ii) faster abscisic acid-related gene modulation; iii) more rapid expression of heat shock protein (HSP) genes and iv) reversion of gene-expression profile at rewatering. Conversely, that reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging enzymes, molecular chaperones and abiotic stress-related genes were induced earlier and more strongly in the anisohydric cultivar. Conclusions Overall, the present work found original evidence of a molecular basis for the proposed classification between isohydric and anisohydric grapevine genotypes. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3136-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The health status of the native grapevine Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris (Gmeli) Hegi in natural areas in Europe has received little attention. A survey was carried out on wild grapevines in Tuscany (Italy), where isolates of the Grapevine rupestris stem pitting virus (GRSPaV), Grapevine leafroll-associated virus 1 and 3 (GLRaV-1 and GLRaV-3) and Grapevine virus A (GVA) were detected. The complete coat protein (CP) region of these isolates was sequenced to investigate the relationship of the viral variants from Tuscan wild grapevines with isolates from different geographical origins. According to the phylogenetic analyses, GLRaV-1 and GLRaV-3 isolates from Tuscan wild grapevines clustered with isolates from cultivated grapevines with nucleotide sequence identities ranging from 66% to 87% and from 72.5% to 99% respectively, without any correlation between the distribution and geographical origin. Conversely, GRSPaV and GVA isolates clustered together with other Italian isolates from V. vinifera with nucleotide sequence identities ranging from 71.14% to 96.12% and from 73.5% to 92%, respectively. Our analysis of the whole amino acid sequences revealed a high conservation level for the studied proteins explained by a selective pressure on this genomic region, probably due to functional constraints imposed on CP, such as specific interactions with cellular receptors in the insect vectors necessary for successful transmission. In addition, analyses of genetic recombination suggest no significant point mutations that might play a significant role in genetic diversification. The dN/dS ratio also estimated a low number of non-silent mutations, highlighting the purifying selective pressure. The widespread distribution of the Rugose wood complex (GRSPaV and GVA associated disease) in comparison with the Grapevine Leafroll associated viruses (GLRaV-1 and -3) could explain the major geographical correlation found for the viral variants detected in Tuscany.

Photosynthetic performances and energy dissipation mechanisms were evaluated on the anisohydric cv. Sangiovese and on the isohydric cv. Montepulciano (Vitis vinifera L.) under conditions of multiple summer stresses. Potted vines of both cultivars were maintained at 90% and 40% of maximum water availability from fruit-set to veraison. One week before veraison, at predawn and midday, main gas-exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, chlorophyll content, xanthophyll pool and cycle and catalase activity were evaluated. Under water deficit and elevated irradiance and temperature, contrary to cv. Montepulciano and despite a significant leaf water potential decrease, Sangiovese’s leaves kept their stomata more open and continued to assimilate CO2 while also showing higher water use efficiency. Under these environmental conditions, in comparison with the isohydric cv. Montepulciano, the protective mechanisms of energy dissipation exerted by the anisohydric cv. Sangiovese were: (i) higher stomatal conductance and thermoregulation linked to higher transpiration rate; (ii) greater ability at dissipating more efficiently the excess energy via the xanthophylls cycle activity (thermal dissipation) due to higher VAZ pool and greater increase of de-epoxidation activity.

The effects of three cytokinins, kinetin 4.5 μM (Kin), 6-benzylaminopurine 4.5 μM (BA) and N-phenyl-N′1,2,3- thiadiazol-5-yl-urea 4.5 μM (TDZ), and the effects of different treatment duration on the regeneration of adventitious shoots from quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) leaves were studied. In a first experiment, leaves treated with Kin for 0, 8, 16 and 24 d were transferred to BA or TDZ-containing growth medium. In a second experiment TDZ applied for 0, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 24 d was followed by BA. All treatments included 0.5 μM α -naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). In the sequence Kin-BA, the production of adventitious shoots decreased and reddish-coloured nodular structures (RNS) of meristematic appearance increased with increasing duration of Kin treatment, while somatic embryo formation was optimal at 8 d. In the Kin-TDZ sequence, shoot production was initially pronounced, but it declined with increasing duration of the Kin treatment, while the number of roots, somatic embryos and RNS increased. TDZ-BA treatments induced marked shoot production, which gradually increased with increasing duration of TDZ treatment. The presence of TDZ and a long treatment duration appeared to be very important factors in inducing caulogenesis. Kin appeared to be effective in shoot induction but not in shoot development; the results of this work demonstrate that RNS were adventitious shoots blocked at an early developmental stage on account of insufficient cytokinin activity. BA was less effective than TDZ in inducing shoot regeneration. Finally, both Kin and BA applied after 2,4-D treatment promoted somatic embryo induction.