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Background Fruit set is the transformation of flower ovaries into berries. Fruit set rate determines the number of berries produced per bunch, which is a major component of yield in grapevines. Malbec is a black-berried grapevine cultivar recognized for producing high-quality wines, and particularly relevant for Argentina’s winemaking industry. Clonal variation has been reported for Malbec at the phenotypic and molecular levels. However, less is known about clonal variation for agronomically relevant features affecting yield. In this work we evaluated 25 Malbec clones for the fruit set rate and other related features over multiple seasons. Results The mean fruit set rate was 38.6% (ranged between 13.1% and 65.8%) in 2021/22, and 32.1% (ranged between 9.8% and 50%) in 2022/23 season, evidencing a wide range of within-season variation. Besides the expectable interannual differences, significant and positive correlations were found over seasons for the fruit set rate, number of flowers per inflorescence and number of berries per bunch. Moreover, multivariate clustering analyses consistently grouped the evaluated clones into three distinct groups. Two of these groups showed similar number of flowers per inflorescence, but significantly different fruit set rates and number of berries per bunch. Representative clones of the latter two groups were in-depth analyzed in 2023/24, supporting previous seasons results and revealing differences in their floral phenotypes. Conclusions We found a wide range of clone-dependent variation for the evaluated traits, which generated great differences in the reproductive performance and yield within Malbec. We hypothesized that the observed differences were associated to somatic mutations, affecting the correct development and functionality of flower organs in a clone-specific way.

Grapevine cultivars are clonally propagated to preserve their varietal attributes. However, genetic variations accumulate due to the occurrence of somatic mutations. This process is anthropically influenced through plant transportation, clonal propagation and selection. Malbec is a cultivar that is well-appreciated for the elaboration of red wine. It originated in Southwestern France and was introduced in Argentina during the 1850s. In order to study the clonal genetic diversity of Malbec grapevines, we generated whole-genome resequencing data for four accessions with different clonal propagation records. A stringent variant calling procedure was established to identify reliable polymorphisms among the analyzed accessions. The latter procedure retrieved 941 single nucleotide variants (SNVs). A reduced set of the detected SNVs was corroborated through Sanger sequencing, and employed to custom-design a genotyping experiment. We successfully genotyped 214 Malbec accessions using 41 SNVs, and identified 14 genotypes that clustered in two genetically divergent clonal lineages. These lineages were associated with the time span of clonal propagation of the analyzed accessions in Argentina and Europe. Our results show the usefulness of this approach for the study of the scarce intra-cultivar genetic diversity in grapevines. We also provide evidence on how human actions might have driven the accumulation of different somatic mutations, ultimately shaping the Malbec genetic diversity pattern.

Grapevine phenology is being modified by climate change, particularly by the increase of temperatures that affect grape attributes for wine production. Besides the existing oenological and viticultural approaches, the thorough exploration of the current intra-cultivar genetic variability to select late-ripening genotypes emerges as an interesting alternative. In the present work, we have analyzed the natural genetic variation for phenology and agronomic traits among 21 ‘Malbec’ clones and we demonstrated that fruiting cuttings are a useful tool for the analysis of such variation in ‘Malbec’. Several clones could be distinguished by agronomic traits like berry number or cluster weight, and mainly by phenology characteristics like the length of the phase between flowering and veraison, which reached more than 16 days between early and late clones. These results support the approach of exploring grapevine clone collections in searching for genotypes with delayed phenology, and thus with the potential to maintain some expected quality characteristics under warm conditions.

To preserve their varietal attributes, established grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L. ssp. vinifera) must be clonally propagated, due to their highly heterozygous genomes. Malbec is a France-originated cultivar appreciated for producing high-quality wines, and is the offspring of cultivars Prunelard and Magdeleine Noire des Charentes. Here, we have built a diploid genome assembly of Malbec, after trio binning of PacBio long reads into the two haploid complements inherited from either parent. After haplotype-aware deduplication and corrections, complete assemblies for the two haplophases were obtained with very low haplotype switch-error rate (<0.025). The haplophases alignment identified >25% of polymorphic regions. Gene annotation including RNA-seq transcriptome assembly and ab initio prediction evidence resulted in similar gene model numbers for both haplophases. The annotated diploid assembly was exploited in the transcriptomic comparison of four clonal accessions of Malbec that exhibited variation in berry composition traits. Analysis of the ripening pericarp transcriptome using either haplophases as reference yielded similar results, although some differences were observed. Particularly, among the differentially expressed genes identified only with the Magdeleine-inherited haplotype as reference, we observed an over-representation of hypothetically hemizygous genes. The higher berry anthocyanin content of clonal accession 595 was associated with increased abscisic acid responses, possibly leading to the observed overexpression of phenylpropanoid metabolism genes and deregulation of genes associated to abiotic stress response. Overall, the results highlight the importance of producing diploid assemblies to fully represent the genomic diversity of highly heterozygous woody crop cultivars and to unveil the molecular bases of clonal phenotypic variation.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.Footnotes* After a first round of revisions we consider that significant changes have been performed on our original manuscript. All tables have been updated with novel results. Therefore, the results and discussion have been changed accordingly.

Fil: Gómez Talquenca, Sebastián. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina

Abstract Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars are clonally propagated to preserve their varietal attributes. However, novel genetic variation still accumulates due to somatic mutations. Aiming to study the potential impact of clonal propagation history on grapevines intra-cultivar genetic diversity, we have focused on ‘Malbec’. This cultivar is appreciated for red wines elaboration, it was originated in Southwestern France and introduced into Argentina during the 1850s. Here, we generated whole-genome resequencing data for four ‘Malbec’ clones with different historical backgrounds. A stringent variant calling procedure was established to identify reliable clonal polymorphisms, additionally corroborated by Sanger sequencing. This analysis retrieved 941 single nucleotide variants (SNVs), occurring among the analyzed clones. Based on a set of validated SNVs, a genotyping experiment was custom-designed to survey ‘Malbec’ genetic diversity. We successfully genotyped 214 samples and identified 14 different clonal genotypes, that clustered into two genetically divergent groups. Group-Ar was driven by clones with a long history of clonal propagation in Argentina, while Group-Fr was driven by clones that have longer remained in Europe. Findings show the ability of such approaches for clonal genotypes identification in grapevines. In particular, we provide evidence on how human actions may have shaped ‘Malbec’ extant genetic diversity pattern. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

A concise synthetic route from methylmalonate to a tetravalent aliphatic scaffold has been developed. The ensuing tetra-tethered derivative is equipped with two hydroxyl groups, as well as orthogonal alkene and alkyne functionalities. The usefulness of the scaffold has been demonstrated with the preparation of two representative multivalent derivatives: (i) a tetravalent compound containing two D-mannose units, one fluorescent boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dye and a suitably functionalized amino acid and (ii) by way of dimerization and saponification, a water-soluble tetramannan derivative containing two fluorescent BODIPY units. Additionally, photophysical measurements conducted on these derivatives support the viability of the herein designed single and double BODIPY-labeled carbohydrate-based clusters as fluorescent markers.

Abstract Background Cognitive remediation (CR) and physical exercise have separately shown promising results in schizophrenia cognitive improvement, despite this, the impact on daily functionality is still limited. Physical exercise increases Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) levels, promoting neuronal and cognitive plasticity, which can maximize the impact of CR. We are conducting a randomised controlled trial to determine the efficacy of an intensive program that combines CR and physical exercise on cognition and related outcomes for patients with schizophrenia. In addition, we investigate functional and structural brain effects of this intervention and its association to BDNF. Methods This study protocol describes a randomized controlled trial in which 74 patients are randomly assigned to either CR and physical exercise or CR and health promotion. The interventions are 12-week long and consist of three weekly sessions (90min of CR and 40min of either aerobic exercise or health promotion). To be included in the study, patients must be diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, aged 28–60 years, and do low physical activity, as measured by International Physical Activity Questionnaire, IPAQ. Exclusion Criteria for participation in the study are the presence of neurological or substance use disorders, IQ < 70 and somatic illnesses that contraindicate physical exercise. Healthy control participants (n=18) are screened for the presence of lifetime Axis I psychotic disorders and for the presence of a first-degree relative with schizophrenia. Primary outcome measures are cognitive performance, functional outcome, negative symptoms, BDNF levels and neuroimaging measures. Secondary outcome measures are quality of life and metabolic parameters. All measures are blindly assessed at baseline, at 3 months follow up and at 15 months follow up. This trial was approved by the Comité Ètic d’Investigació Clínica de l’Hospital del Mar (CEIC) 2015/6209/I Results This poster is a study protocol. We will correct data from now on. Discussion The results of this trial will provide valuable information about whether cognitive remediation efficacy for patients with schizophrenia can be enhanced by aerobic exercise-induced BDNF upregulation. TRIAL REGISTRATION The trial is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02864576)