The Edmund Mach Foundation, formerly the ''Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige'' (IASMA), is an agrarian institution and wine academy located in Trentino in north-east Italy. It was founded in 1874, when the Tyrolean Diet at Innsbruck decided to open an agrarian school and research station at San Michele all’Adige, with the aim of improving agricultural practice in Tyrol. The Institute has been located within the premises of former Augustinian monastery of San Michele then abandoned due to its secularization in 1807. The lombardo-venetian enologist

Edmund Mach Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

was the academy's first director and the institute developed a reputation for work in viticulture and

enology Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

.J. Robinson (ed). ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"''. Third Edition, pg. 608, Oxford University Press 2006 Its mission today is to provide agricultural education, training and consultancy, and to conduct research and experimentation with the aim of "promoting cultural and socio-economic growth in the agricultural sector and at developing the forestry and agro-alimentary systems, with particular regard for the environment and the safeguard of the territory of the Trentino region". There is also a farm, devoted to grape and apple production, a wine cellar and a distillery.

Research

The institute is home of Italy's most extensive

ampelographic Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of the ...

collection of grape specimens including both indigenous Italian varieties as well as grapes varieties from around the world. The academy conduct wide scale research into various areas of interest to Italian viticulture and winemaking including cataloging the DNA profile and

genomic Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...

of grape varieties, studying the analysis of

wine aromas The aromas of wine are more diverse than its flavours. The human tongue is limited to the primary tastes perceived by taste receptors on the tongue – sourness, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness and savouriness. The wide array of fruit, e ...

and flavors as well the role of phenolic compounds in wine. In 2007 Velasco et al. completed a 6.5x draft genome of the Pinot Noir clone ENTAV 115 and uncovered a significant number of genes which they purport to encode disease resistance elements. Another major area of research for the Foundation, is the pheno-genetic improvement of apples (their organoleptic qualities: taste-color-shape-

crunchiness Crunchiness is the sensation of muffled grinding of a foodstuff. Crunchiness differs from crispness in that a crisp item is quickly atomized, while a crunchy one offers sustained, granular resistance to jaw action. While crispness is difficult t ...

preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

, etc.) and apple trees’ architecture (such as output, columnarity, self-cleaning and

pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

/ disease resistance in order to reduce the use of

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

s). All of this obtained by

classical plant breeding Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It has been used to improve the quality of nutrition in products for humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce cr ...

supported by molecular breeding:

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

and analysis.

Recent discoveries

In the early 21st century, DNA research by José Vouillamoz of the Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige discovered that ancestors of Sangiovese are most likely the Tuscan grape Ciliegiolo and southern Italian grape Calabrese Montenuovo.

Apple genome decodification

During 2007 and 2008, apple DNA sequences (around 13 billion sequenced nucleotides) were produced; and in 2009 researchers assembled and reconstructed the gene content and order into the 17 apple chromosomes. The apple genome decodification, published online by Nature Genetics, was coordinated by the Foundation E. Mach – Ist. Agrario San Michele all’Adige and is of worldwide interest. The data obtained will allow new varieties of apple to be developed more quickly than with classical breeding, resulting in plants with self-defence mechanisms against diseases and insects and which produce healthier and tastier fruits.''The Apple Genome Initiative''
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References

External links

* {{Authority control Agricultural universities and colleges Oenology Trentino Agricultural organisations based in Italy Organizations established in 1874 1874 establishments in Italy