Melané Vivier

Hairy roots arise when the phytopathogenic bacterium, Rhizobium rhizogenes inserts DNA into a wounded plant’s genome, triggering the formation of rapidly growing root masses. The rapid growth and relatively fast establishment of hairy roots led to their use in laboratories, where they are used to…

This study is unique in that it is the first study to provide data on vines subjected to water-restricted conditions from the day that they were planted. It is important, because it contributes towards ensuring sustainable and profitable production of quality wine grapes in South Africa, even in…

In a South African wine industry-funded study, researchers focused on selecting and screening ‘untested/poorly tested’ rootstock material for abiotic stress-resistance phenotypes. The study also evaluated disease-resistance phenotypes of potentially valuable grapevine material.

Given the importance of Pinotage for South Africa, the existence of only a few commercial clones is a limitation. The potential for a more diverse set of clones is desirable and crucial for this cultivar’s continued success and growth.

Genome editing is a catchall phrase to describe the technologies that are available to alter an organism’s DNA. The most promising of these technologies is CRISPR, which is an acronym for ‘Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats’ and occurs in nature as a bacterial ‘immune system’.

PHOTO: Shutterstock.

PHOTO: Shutterstock.

This review presents a summary of the chromatographic methods that have been developed and optimised to accurately profile and quantify grape metabolites. The g