An extracellular transglutaminase is required for apple pollen tube growth

An extracellular form of the calcium-dependent protein-cross-linking enzyme TGase (transglutaminase) was demonstrated to be involved in the apical growth of Malus domestica pollen tube. Apple pollen TGase and its substrates were co-localized within aggregates on the pollen tube surface, as determined by indirect immunofluorescence staining and the in situ cross-linking of fluorescently labelled substrates. TGase-specific inhibitors and an anti-TGase monoclonal antibody blocked pollen tube growth, whereas incorporation of a recombinant fluorescent mammalian TGase substrate (histidine-tagged green fluorescent protein: His6-Xpr-GFP) into the growing tube wall enhanced tube length and germination, consistent with a role of TGase as a modulator of cell wall building and strengthening. The secreted pollen TGase catalysed the cross-linking of both PAs (polyamines) into proteins (released by the pollen tube) and His6-Xpr-GFP into endogenous or exogenously added substrates. A similar distribution of TGase activity was observed in planta on pollen tubes germinating inside the style, consistent with a possible additional role for TGase in the interaction between the pollen tube and the style during fertilization.

Engineering of a novel Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine strain with a respiratory phenotype at high external glucose concentrations

The recently described respiratory strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae KOY.TM6*P is, to our knowledge, the only reported strain of S. cerevisiae which completely redirects the flux of glucose from ethanol fermentation to respiration, even at high external glucose concentrations (27). In the KOY.TM6*P strain, portions of the genes encoding the predominant hexose transporter proteins, Hxt1 and Hxt7, were fused within the regions encoding transmembrane (TM) domain 6. The resulting chimeric gene, TM6*. encoded a chimera composed of the amino-terminal half of Hxt1 and the carboxy-terminal half of Hxt7. It was subsequently integrated into the genome of an hxt null strain. In this study, we have demonstrated the transferability of this respiratory phenotype to the V5 hxt1-7Δ strain, a derivative of a strain used in enology. We also show by using this mutant that it is not necessary to transform a complete hxt null strain with the TM6* construct to obtain a nonethanol-producing phenotype. The resulting V5.TM6*P strain, obtained by transformation of the V5 hxt1-7Δ strain with the TM6* chimeric gene, produced only minor amounts of ethanol when cultured on external glucose concentrations as high as 5%. Despite the fact that glucose flux was reduced to 30% in the V5.TM6*P strain compared with that of its parental strain, the V5.TM6*P strain produced biomass at a specific rate as high as 85% that of the V5 wild-type strain. Even more relevant for the potential use of such a strain for the production of heterologous proteins and also of low-alcohol beverages is the observation that the biomass yield increased 50% with the mutant compared to its parental strain. Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Comparing Several Methods of Discriminant Analysis on the Case of Wine Data

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 62H30, 62J20, 62P12, 68T99

Tudáshasználat és sikeresség- tudásteremtés és -használat a magyarországi borvidékeken (Knowledge-use and success – Knowledge-creation and use on the Hungarian wine-districts)

A cikkben a magyarországi borágazatra vonatkozóan vizsgáljuk a tudáshasználat és sikeresség összefüggését. Magyarország az elmúlt évtizedben elmaradt a magasabb tudást megtestesítő prémium- és szuperprémium- borok irányába mutató világpiaci trendtől. Ennek hátterében vizsgálataink szerint a szőlő- és borágazatban elengedhetetlen és állandóan fejlődő tudás nem eléggé intenzív használata is meghúzódhat. Noha a tudás használata és terjedése ugyan jelentős tényező a különféle vállalkozások sokféleségének magyarázatában, de nem egyértelműen szignifikáns a többféle módon mért sikeresség alakításában. Ugyanakkor azt is megállapíthatjuk, hogy a magyar vállalkozások a tudás saját berken belüli gondozásával és adekvát felhasználásával piaci sikereket érhetnek el. _____ The paper examines the relationship between the use of specific knowledge and success among the Hungarian grape growers and wine makers. In the recent decade Hungary has been left behind by the world trends represented increasing share of premium and superpremium wines (which materialise higher knowledge) in export development. According to the authors’ survey there might be in behind the non-appropriate use and management of knowledge and skills which would be ‘condition sine qua non’ for wine making. However the use and spread of skills is a basic component in explaining the differences of variation among the companies, it is not unambiguous in formulating the business success measured in different indicators. At the same time the authors can conclude that the Hungarian wine enterprises – keeping the idea generation as well as its further development, elaboration and adequate use within the frame of the company – can achieve market success.

Investigating the effect of geographical distances and cultural proximity on the Hungarian wine trade

Wine is a very special product from an economic, cultural, and sociological point of view. Wine culture and wine trade play an important role in Hungary. The effect of cultural and geographical proximity on international trade has already been proven in the international trade literature. The size of bilateral trade flows between any two countries can be approximated by the gravity theory of trade. The gravity model provides empirical evidence of the relationship between the size of the economies, the distances between them, and their trade. This paper seeks to analyse the effect of cultural and geographical proximity on Hungary’s bilateral wine trade between 2000 and 2012, employing the gravity equation. The analysis is based on data from the World Bank WITS, WDI, as well as CEPII, and WTO databases. I apply OLS, Random Effects, Poisson, Pseudo-Poisson-Maximum-Likelihood and Heckman two stage estimators to calculate the gravity regression. The results show that in the case of Hungary, cultural similarity and trade liberalisation have a positive impact, while geographical distance, landlockedness, and contiguity have a negative impact on Hungarian wine exports.

A földrajzi távolság, a kulturális hasonlóság és a szabadkereskedelem hatása a borkereskedelemre = Effects on the global wine trade of geographical distance, cultural and linguistic similarity, and free trade

A globalizálódó világgazdaságban a vezető bortermelő országok egyre jelentősebb borkereskedelmet bonyolítanak le egymás között. Míg Európában a fogyasztók egyre kevesebb bort vásárolnak, addig Amerikában és Ázsiában a bor iránti kereslet folyamatosan bővül: a borkereskedelem földrajzi átrendeződése zajlik. A kulturális hasonlóság és a földrajzi távolság kereskedelemre gyakorolt hatását gyakran a kereskedelemelméletek gravitációs modelljével elemzik. E tanulmány azt vizsgálja, hogy a fő borexportáló országok közötti földrajzi távolság, kulturális hasonlóság és szabadkereskedelem milyen hatással van a nemzetközi borkereskedelemre, annak költségeire. A regressziós becslés eredményei alátámasztják, hogy a borkereskedelem költségei alacsonyabbak, ha a kereskedelmi partnerek kulturálisan hasonlók, földrajzilag közel helyezkednek el egymáshoz, vagy van tengeri kikötőjük, tagjai a WTO-nak, illetve ha kötöttek egymással regionális kereskedelmi megállapodást. Ezenkívül megállapítható, hogy az angolszász, a latin-amerikai és az európai kulturális klaszterek elsősorban egymással kereskednek. A kutatás számos kulturális változó alkalmazásával és több ökonometriai modell, illetve becslési eljárás nagymintás tesztelésével gazdagítja a szakirodalmat. ____ In a globalizing world, major wine-producing countries export considerable quantities to the global wine market and turn over a notable trade, but in what happens European wine regions differ markedly from the New World. Here major wine producers suffered a remarkable fall in domestic wine consumption in recent decades, while New World wine producers increased their production potential and generated new foreign demand. The changes have been joined by geographical relocation of wine consumption and exports. The gravity equation can be derived from demand-side or supply-side theory-consistent estimation methods that suggest relationships between the size of the economies, geographical distances, cultural similarities, and size of their trade. The paper analyses the effects of cultural and geographical proximity, free trade, and linguistic similarity on bilateral trade in the main wine-producing countries, using a cross-section gravity model for 2012. The results suggest that larger countries export more wine, while transport costs rise in line with geographical distance and are higher for landlocked trading partners. Wine export costs are lower if trading partners are culturally similar, share a dominant religion, or are both WTO members with regional trade agreements. Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Latin American and Latin European countries mainly trade wines within their groups. The paper looks to extend the number of trading partners, investigate the effect of language clusters, and confirm that the results are robust by different econometric methodologies.

The Italian Response to the Growing U.S. Wine Demand

Americans are learning more about wines and consuming them in increasingly greater quantities. Italian wines have experienced a tremendous growth in their share of the U. S. market during the last decade. This article analyzes the marketing and success of the wines of Italy with the American consumer.

A Relationship of Wine Ratings and Wholesale Pricing, Vintage, Variety, and Region

Wine reviews, such as those from Wine Spectator and other consumer publications, help drive wine sales. The researchers in this study utilized standardized wholesale “line pricing” from a major wholesale distributor in the Southwest to compare pricing to the ratings published by Wine Spectator and to determine whether there were any correlations among other key attributes of the wine. The study produced interesting results, including that the wholesale price and vintage of a wine are significant in the prediction of the wine’s rating.

South Beach Wine and Food Festival - Why Participate?

This paper studies why restaurants, wineries, and other exhibiters participate in Wine & Food festivals. We hypothesized [hat the purpose was to acquire new customers thru promotional involvement in the festival. A secondary outcome was to ascertain if there were differences in motivation between the three groups. A survey was conducted of participating companies in one of the largest Food & Wine festivals. We found differences in what motivated winery participants from restaurants or other exhibitors. A discussion of these differences and how festival organizers may aid participants in achieving their goals is presented.

Reaching an Underserved Wine Customer: Connecting with the African American Wine Consumer

Marketing strategies addressing underserved African American wine customers’ needs that also positively impact producers’ and retailers’ clientele was the impetus for this exploratory, qualitative paper. African Americans demonstrate a thirst to elevate their education about and be more involved in the wine industry as evidenced by the proliferation of African American wine-tasting groups designed to help educate and expose their membership to a variety of wines. Moreover, compared to the average adult, African-American wine drinkers are 241% more likely to have spent $20 or more on a bottle of store bought wine (Arbitron, 2005). Despite African Americans’ representation as one of the fastest growing ethnic minority segments in the U.S., wine industry strategies don't appear to connect with this market segment. Like Alice in Wonderland, we characterize this phenomenon by suggesting this market segment is ‘peering through the looking glass’. Three focus groups were conducted to specify possible targeted media strategies as well as to identify attitudes and opinions that influence this segment's wine purchasing and consumption behaviors. Industry strategies were suggested that would appear to benefit producers, retailers, and this customer segment. The results of the research will be used to inform a quantitative instrument in order to generalize findings beyond the context of the exploratory setting.

Apple

Apple is a collection of poems that explores the connection between human relationships and the evolution of an identity. Multiple speakers investigate gender and sexuality, plentitude and poverty, atheism and Christianity in order to better understand some of the forces that affect a woman's consciousness. An awareness of perceived dualities, such as self and other, reason and faith, nature and technology, socialization and loneliness are central to this exploration. The poems employ various forms, such as ultra-talk narratives, lyrical meditations, prose poetry, epistolary poems and hypertext. The variety of structure and form in the collection mirrors the variety of approaches the speakers employ to move closer and further away from the subjects at hand. The rhetorical posture employed in each poem is directly linked to the speaker's relationship with the audience, which is an excellent example of a human relationship affecting the evolution of an identity.