Caratterizzazione molecolare nei processi di maturazione ed appassimento nella bacca di vitis vinifera (cv Corvina)

The work performed during this PhD course is part of a much wider project, the purpose of which is to study and to deeply understand –both by means of transcriptomic and proteomic techniques- the main modifications that take place during the ripening and withering of the berry which are so important in the production of specific metabolites in grapes and then in the produced wines. The main goal of this project is the molecular characterization of the processes of ripening and withering in the berry of Vitis vinifera (cv Corvina, clone 48); the studied cultivar has a very important role in the production of some precious typical Verona wines like Amarone and Recioto. The transcriptomic analysis has been performed on samples collected during two producing seasons (2003 and 2006) using two different approaches: in the first case the analysis was done by AFLP-TP technique while in the second the CombiMatrix microarray technology was applied. Proteomic studies and those aimed at analyzing the trend of the main berry and wine compounds performed at the same time on the same samples used for the transcriptomic analysis (microarray) have employed the valuable know-how and the instruments available respectively at the “Centro Ricerche Casaccia ENEA” laboratories in Rome and at the “Unione Italiana Vini” laboratories in Verona. The main challenge is, still, to put into relation the results coming from the transcriptomic analyses to those deriving from the proteomic studies and from the analyses on the main compounds of the grape berry during its development, ripening and withering.