Publications by authors named "Rex M Brennan"

This study reveals striking differences in the content and composition of hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds in blackcurrant buds (Ribes nigrum L., cv. Ben Klibreck) resulting from winter chill or chemical dormancy release following treatment with ERGER, a biostimulant used to promote uniform bud break.

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This work aims to determine the effect of genotype x environment (GxE) interaction that influence blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) fruit quality. We applied metabolomics-driven analysis on fruits from four cultivars grown in contrasting European-locations over two seasons. By integrating metabolomics and sensory analysis, we also defined specific metabolic signatures associated with consumer acceptance.

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Introduction: Commercially, blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum L.) are grown mainly for processing, especially for juice production. They are valued for their high levels of polyphenols, especially anthocyanins, which contribute to their characteristic deep colour, but also as a good source of vitamin C.

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Blackcurrant fruit collected at six stages of development were assessed for changes in gene expression using custom whole transcriptome microarrays and for variation in metabolite content using a combination of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Principal components analysis demonstrated that fruit development could be clearly defined according to their transcript or metabolite profiles. During early developmental stages, metabolite profiles were dominated by amino acids and tannins, whilst transcript profiles were enriched in functions associated with cell division, anatomical structure morphogenesis and cell wall metabolism.

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Interactions between plants and insect herbivores are important determinants of plant productivity in managed and natural vegetation. In response to attack, plants have evolved a range of defenses to reduce the threat of injury and loss of productivity. Crop losses from damage caused by arthropod pests can exceed 15% annually.

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It is usually thought that adequate winter chill is required for the full flowering of many temperate woody species. This paper investigates the sensitivity of blackcurrant bud burst and flowering to natural weather fluctuations in a temperate maritime climate, and compares a range of chill models that have been proposed for assessing the accumulation of winter chill. Bud break for four contrasting cultivars are compared in an exceptionally cold and in a mild winter in Eastern Scotland.

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Background: Deep-level second generation sequencing (2GS) technologies are now being applied to non-model species as a viable and favourable alternative to Sanger sequencing. Large-scale SNP discovery was undertaken in blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) using transcriptome-based 2GS 454 sequencing on the parental genotypes of a reference mapping population, to generate large numbers of novel markers for the construction of a high-density linkage map.

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Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum L.) is a widely grown commercial crop valued for its high vitamin C (l-ascorbic acid, AsA) content. In the present study, a systematic analysis of the mechanism of fruit AsA accumulation was undertaken.

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A rapid method for the quantification of L-ascorbic acid (1) in berry fruit by HPLC with photodiode array detection is presented. L-Ascorbic acid was resolved on a C18 monolithic column with aqueous buffer, after which the column was washed with acetonitrile to remove lipophilic compounds prior to re-equilibration for analysis of the next sample. Using the monolithic column format with high mobile phase flow rates, the entire separation, wash and re-equilibration were achieved in 3 min.

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