VARIETAL GENES AND POLYPHENOLS IN TANNAT GRAPE BERRIES
The Tannat grape berry is used to produce high quality wines with an intense purple color and remarkable antioxidant properties. Through reference-guided assembly of the genome combined with de novo assembly of the transcriptome, Da Silva et al. (pages 4777–4788) found variety-specific genes not present in the Pinot Noir reference genome that might contribute substantially to the unique characteristics of the Tannat berry. The cover image by Jules Troncy is from Ampélographie – Traité général de viticulture. Tome IV. 1903 by Pierre Viala and Victor Vermorell. Imp. F. Champenois, Paris.