Missouri's wine industry is one of our state's gems. With vineyards dating to the 1840s and many award-winning varietals and vintages, Missouri wine is something of which we can all be proud. Recently, researchers at Missouri State University announced that their work exploring our state grape, Norton, has yielded exciting results that stand to strengthen Missouri's wine industry in the future.
Read more about their research and what sequencing the grape's genome may mean for the future of Missouri's wine industry in the article below from Missouri's State University's W.H. Darr School of Agriculture and the Vitus Gene Discovery Program at the Center for Grapevine Biotechnology.
Researchers at the Vitus Gene Discovery Program at the Center for Grapevine Biotechnology in Missouri State University’s W. H. Darr School of Agriculture announced two major breakthroughs that will impact grape and wine industries in Missouri and the Midwest.
The first discovery concerns the whole genome of Norton, the state grape of Missouri, which has now been sequenced. Although the whole road map of the genetic landscape will take years to complete, the raw genomic sequences shed the first glimpse on the genetic mystery shrouding the origin and legends of a true North American wine grape.
“I’m happy to report that raw DNA sequences of Norton grape have been acquired by Missouri State University,” said Dr. Wenping Qiu, research professor at the Mountain Grove campus. “It is an historic moment for the Vitis Gene Discovery Program and a milestone for the Missouri grape and wine industry. It unveils the genetic codes for determining the beauty of the dark blue berry, the special trait of disease resistance and the unique flavor of Norton wine.”
Genome sequences bear the script of dictating the traits of scientific curiosity and agricultural significance. Norton’s whole genome sequence will allow a comparison of the genetic elements of two largely different grape varieties of Eurasian and North American origin and will accelerate the speed of finding genetic markers for the traits of special interests such as disease resistance and berry quality. It also will provide genetic guidelines for the molecular breeding of new grape varieties and help promote public curiosity, positive perception and preferential reception of Norton.
The second discovery concerns the first DNA virus ever discovered in grapes. The genome of the new virus is a double-strand circular DNA molecule. Close association of this DNA virus with an emerging grape disease will lead to a more detailed study of the new virus that will help prevent further spread of the virus and the loss of grapevines in vineyards. According to Qiu, the new virus also poses many questions, such as where it originates, how it spreads to commercial vineyards, if it is widely distributed in vineyards worldwide, and more intriguingly, if it is present in wild grapevines that are native to North America.
“In 2009, we applied a new technology, the deep sequencing of small RNAs, which allowed us to acquire thousands of sequences of virus-derived small snips,” Qiu said. “We discovered a large number of small sequences that are very similar to a group of DNA viruses that have not been reported in grapevines. After we sequenced these fragments, we were able to assemble the whole genome of a DNA virus of grapevines. We also conducted a survey of diseased vines that show translucent vein-clearing and vine decline symptoms in grape varieties that are grown in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. We found that the newly discovered virus is closely associated with the vein-clearing symptom, so we gave it the provisional name Grapevine vein-clearing virus (GVCV).”
Norton (a.k.a. Cynthiana) is the oldest native North American wine grape and holds a privileged position in Midwest grape and wine industry. It has been cultivated in the Midwest region for more than 150 years. The production of Norton grapes is the highest among all grape varieties and represents 20 percent of all grape production in the state of Missouri.
On July 11, 2003, Norton/Cynthiana was designated as the state grape of Missouri. Norton wine is known for its intense flavor, rich color and full body. It is an icon of Missouri red wines, and is also becoming a nationally-acclaimed premium red wine.
Two prominent characteristics of Norton grapevines are high levels of resistance to powdery mildew, downy mildew and harvest rot diseases, including black rot, bitter rot and bunch rot, the most destructive fungal diseases on grapes worldwide; and high levels of anthocyanins that are associated with the health benefits of consuming grapes and wines. Norton is an exceptionally hardy grape variety and can be grown with minimum applications of pesticides.
These research breakthroughs are a result of years of effort by graduate students, postdoctoral research associates and research faculty at the Center for Grapevine Biotechnology.
The Vitus Gene Discovery Program has been financially supported by the United States Department of Agriculture, with Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson and former Senator Kit Bond instrumental in securing funding for the project.
View the original article here: http://news.missouristate.edu/2011/09/07/breakthroughs-for-grape-wine-industry/.