Morgante membro dell'Accademia dei Lincei

30/10/2007

Michele Morgante, direttore dell'Istituto di Genomica Applicata (IGA) è stato nominato membro del'Accademia dei Licei e sarà ricevuto dal Presidente della Repubblica il 9 novembre 2007. Colleghi e collaboratori dell'IGA si complimentano con il direttore per il prestigioso riconoscimento.

L'accademia dei Lincei fu fondata a Roma nel 1603 da Federico Cesi (1586-1630), un patrizio appassionato di scienze naturali e annoverò presto tra i suoi soci Galileo Galilei. In tempi in cui le Accademie erano orientate alle lettere, l'Accademia dei Lincei si caratterizzò per l'attenzione alle scienze della natura "da indagarsi con libera osservazione sperimentale, di là da ogni vincolo di tradizione e autorià", come si trova scritto sul sito (http://www.lincei.it).

A major advance in plant biology: the grapevine genome is completely sequenced

August 26th 2007

A major achievement has been reached in plant biology: the first detailed analysis of the grapevine genome is published today (on line-version) in the journal Nature. The joined effort carried out by scientists from GENOSCOPE and INRA in France and from several Universities and the Istituto di Genomica Applicata (IGA) in Italy has produced a high-quality draft of the genome sequence of Vitis vinifera, the first for a fruit crop, cultivated for both fruit and beverage. The results of this analysis allow a better understanding of plant evolution and genes involved in wine aromas. The details are published in the online Nature paper of August 26th.

Grapevine joins the other three plant species sequenced so far: thale cress (Arabidospis thaliana), rice and poplar. The project aiming at the characterization of the grapevine genome was launched in 2005 within a scientific cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture in France and the Ministry of Agriculture in Italy. It is coordinated by INRA and Génoscope in France and by CRA in Italy.

The public release of the grapevine sequence is both a fundamental accomplishment and a starting point for a deeper characterization of gene function. This is crucial for a better assessment of natural variation and its relevance to phenotypic variability, and the realization of applicative projects, aimed for instance at the development of grapevine resistant to diseases. This in turn will contribute to the much needed reduction of fungicide and pesticide treatments and the development of a more sustainable agriculture.

The selected inbred line, derived from Pinot Noir, allowed the French-Italian public consortium to efficiently use a whole-genome sequencing strategy with an expected high quality assembly of a genome long approximately 480 millions base-pairs and to unveil some of the secrets of its constitution.

Majors results to undestand the evolution of flowering plants

The comparative analysis of the grapevine genome and those of rice, poplar and Arabidopsis, has revealed the ancestral nature of the grapevine genome in comparison to the other plant species and has allowed researchers to get a glimpse of how a plant genome looked like in the progenitor of flowering plants.

Towards a better unterstanding of aromas in wines

A striking feature of the grapevine gene content is the existence of large families of genes related to wine flavour, which have a very high gene copy number. This is the case, for instance, for the genes coding for stilbene synthase, an enzyme which drives the synthesis of resveratrol, the compound resposible of the health benefits associated to a moderate consumption of wine. A similar situation is found for genes coding for enzymes involved in the synthesis of terpens and tannins, the major components of aromas, resins and essential oils.

The grapevine sequence is fully accessible to the world scientific community through public databases. Indeed, the French-Italian public consortium has been offering a complete access to its sequencing results since October 2006 through three public websites: http://www.genoscope.cns.fr/vitis, http://www.vitisgenome.it/ and http://www.appliedgenomics.org, whose browsers are intensively accessed by scientists worldwide.

This project was supported by the Consortium National de Recherche en Génomique, l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche, l’INRA, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture (VIGNA-CRA), and Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia together with a consortium of private companies and banks (IGA).

Scientific Contact:


Anne-Françoise ADAM-BLONDON
INRA, coodinator France
Unité mixte de recherche « Gánomique végétale » INRA-CNRS-Université d’Évry
tel. :+33 1 60 87 45 34

Francis QUETIER
Génoscope, coordinator France
Depuis le 1er mai 2007, le Genoscope est rattaché à la Direction des sciences du vivant du CEA
tel. : +33 1 60872504

M. Enrico Pè
Università degli Studi di Milano, coordinator Italy
tel. : +39 02 5031 5012 or +39 3407761511

Michele Morgante
Istituto di Genomica Applicata, Udine, coordinator Italy
tel. : +39 320 4365759 or +39 0432 629785

Reference:


“The grapevine genome sequence suggests ancestral hexaploidization in major angiosperm phyla”
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature06148

Olivier Jaillon(1)*, Jean-Marc Aury(1)*, Benjamin Noel(1), Alberto Policriti(2,3), Christian Clepet(4), Alberto Casagrande(2,5), Nathalie Choisne(1,4), Se´bastien Aubourg(4), Nicola Vitulo(6,15), Claire Jubin(1), Alessandro Vezzi(6,15), Fabrice Legeai(7), Philippe Hugueney(8), Corinne Dasilva(1), David Horner(9,15), Erica Mica(9,15), Delphine Jublot(4), Julie Poulain1), Clémence Bruyère4), Alain Billault(1), Béatrice Segurens1), Michel Gouyvenoux(1), Edgardo Ugarte1), Federica Cattonaro(2), Véronique Anthouard(1), Virginie Vico(1), Cristian Del Fabbro(2,3, Michaël Alaux(7), Gabriele Di Gaspero(2,(5, Vincent Dumas(8, Nicoletta Felice(2,5), Sophie Paillard(4), Irena Juman(2,5), Marco Moroldo(4), Simone Scalabrin(2,3), Aure´lie Canaguier(4), Isabelle Le Clainche(4), Giorgio Malacrida(6,15), Eláonore Durand(7), Graziano Pesole(10,11,15), Valérie Laucou(12), Philippe Chatelet(13), Didier Merdinoglu(8), Massimo Delledonne(14,16), Mario Pezzotti(15,16), Alain Lecharny(4), Claude Scarpelli(1), François Artiguenave(1), M. Enrico Pè(9,16), Giorgio Valle(6,16), Michele Morgante(2,5), Michel Caboche(4), Anne-Françoise Adam-Blondon(4), Jean Weissenbach(1), Francis Quétier(1), Patrick Wincker(1)

  1. Genoscope and CNRS UMR 8030, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux, BP5706, 91057 Évry, France
  2. Istituto di Genomica Applicata, Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico di Udine, Via Linussio 51, 33100 Udine, Italy
  3. Dipartimento di Matematica ed Informatica, Università degli Studi di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy
  4. URGV, UMR INRA 1165, CNRS-UEVE Genomique Vegetale, 2 rue Gaston Cremieux, BP5708, 91057 Evry cedex, France
  5. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy
  6. CRIBI, Università degli Studi di Padova, viale G. Colombo 3, 35121 Padova, Italy
  7. URGI, UR1164 Genomique Info, 523, Place des Terrasses, 91034 Évry Cedex, France
  8. UMR INRA 1131, Université de Strasbourg, Santé de la Vigne et Qualité du Vin, 28 rue de Herrlisheim, BP20507, 68021 Colmar, France
  9. Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy
  10. Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Università degli Studi di Bari, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy
  11. Istituto Tecnologie Biomediche, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Amendola 122/D, 70125 Bari, Italy
  12. UMR INRA 1097, IRD-Montpellier SupAgro-Univ. Montpellier II, Diversité et Adaptation des Plantes Cultivees, 2 Place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
  13. UMR INRA 1098, IRD-Montpellier SupAgro-CIRAD, Développement et Amélioration des Plantes, 2 Place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France
  14. Dipartimento Scientifico e Tecnologico, Università degli Studi di Verona Strada Le Grazie 15 – Ca’ Vignal, 37134 Verona, Italy
  15. Dipartimento di Scienze, Tecnologie e Mercati della Vite e del Vino, Università degli Studi di Verona, via della Pieve, 70 37029 S. Floriano (VR), Italy
  16. VIGNA-CRA Initiative; Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Biologia Molecolare delle Piante, c/o Università degli Studi di Siena, via Banchi di Sotto 55, 53100 Siena, Italy

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