Appellation Cornell
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Appellation Cornell is a quarterly newsletter produced by Cornell College of Ag and Life Sciences, School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS), Horticulture, Viticulture and Enology. The newsletter features in-depth news about research, teaching, and extension, and profiles of faculty, students, and industry.
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Item Grape Breeding: From Phenotypic to Marker-assisted SelectionMartinson, Timothy; Reisch, Bruce (2025-11-06)A generation of grape breeders has retired over the past three years. Programs at UC Davis, Cornell, the USDA-ARS at Parlier, California, the University of Minnesota, and a new program at the USDA-ARS unit in Kearneysville, West Virginia have hired a new crop of grape breeders and geneticists. These newly-hired breeders now have access to a host of tools, including a detailed map of the 19 chromosomes in the grapevine genome, numerous DNA markers predicting important traits such as disease resistance, and the ability to use marker-assisted selection in their breeding programs. None of this existed when their predecessors started their careers in the ‘80s or ‘90s. A generation ago, almost nothing was known about grapevine genetics. Crosses were made by choosing parents with complementary traits (phenotypes), and selecting progeny that expressed the best combination of traits observed in the field. A dramatic drop in the cost of sequencing DNA has driven a revolution in grape breeding. Grape breeders, for the first time, have access to detailed genetic information to guide their efforts. They are no longer flying blind.Item A Novel Grape Downy Mildew Resistance Locus from Vitis rupestrisPodolec, Michelle (Cornell University, 2021-03)USDA Scientist Jason Londo, based at Cornell AgriTech identified a new genetic DNA marker associated with downy mildew resistance. This new locus can be incorporated into grape breeding programs.Item It’s all in your head(space). Researchers invent automatable method to measure free S02 in winePodolec, Michelle (Cornell University, 2021-05)The Sacks lab presents a new and easily automated method of measuring "truly" free S02 using headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC).Item Determining which vegetative index is best for your vineyardPodolec, Michelle (Cornell University, 2021-08)Tractor-mounted sensors use optical sensing to measure canopy fill. This study compared different combinations of wavelengths that comprise different "vegetative indexes".Item Using cell phones to obtain accurate prebloom cluster countsPodolec, Michelle (Cornell University, 2021-08)Viticulturist Justine Vanden Heuvel and engineering professor Kirstin Peterson devise low-cost procedure to count clusters for crop estimation.Item Elimination of the Crown Gall Pathogen, Agrobacterium vitis, from Systematically Infected Grapevines by Tissue CultureWiepz, Rebecca (Cornell University, 2020-05)Recently-retired scientist Tom Burr's program successfully eliminates crown gall through tissue culture and use of the sensitive 'magnetic capture hybridization' test developed by the Burr laboratory.Item X-ray imaging allows nondestructive investigation of grape bud morphology and freezingWiepz, Rebecca (Cornell University, 2020-03)The use of microtomography (3D X-ray imaging) allowed Grad student Al Kovaleski and USDA scientist Jason Londo to track changes in bud structure during deacclimation and freezing events.Item A New, Satellite NDVI-Based Sampling Protocol for Grape Maturation MonitoringWiepz, Rebecca (Cornell University, 2020-05)Cornell Extension Educator Jim Meyers, working with Justine Vanden Heuvel's program and E. J. Gallo scientists, developed an image analysis-based method for using Landsat satellite images to select single, representative location for grape maturity sampling in Central Valley vineyards - greatly reducing the its cost, while improving accuracy.Item Economic Studies Reinforce Efforts to Safeguard Specialty Crops in the United StatesPodolec, Michelle (Cornell University, 2021-03)Cornell virologist Marc Fuchs and collaborators documented significant economic impact of 'clean plant' programs in grapes and other specialty crops.Item Grape mapping populations reveal genetic variation in bloom and fruit developmentMartinson, Timothy E.; Kovaleski, Al; Reisch, Bruce (Cornell University, 2020-08)Bruce Reisch's three related mapping populations are helping discover genetic markers for a variety of traits such as timing of bloom and fruit development.