Media releases

• Clean vines, new wines focus of $2M Ontario research grant

  Thursday, December 05, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE – December 5, 2024 – R0141

  A $2-million funding boost from the Ontario Research Fund (ORF) will support a multi-institutional project led by Brock University that aims to drive resilience in the province’s grape and wine industry.

  The project, “Viticulture Innovation and Next-generation Oenology (VINO) Solutions: Strengthening Ontario’s Grape and Wine Sector for Climate Resilience, Innovation Excellence and Global Economic Leadership,” will develop new growing and fermenting approaches to help the industry combat threats such as pests, plant viruses and climate change.

  “Our proactive, integrative approach of building resiliency into both grape and wine production systems by combining academic expertise and industrial partnerships across the country, will ensure the Ontario grape and wine sector continues to be a leader in cool climate wine production,” says Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) Director and Professor of Biological Sciences Debbie Inglis, Principal Investigator for VINO Solutions.

  The project also builds on earlier funding from the federal government’s Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. When combined with cash and in-kind support from industry partners and Brock, the VINO Solutions project now totals $7.4 million.

  “Brock University’s project is a breakthrough for Ontario’s $5.5-billion grape and wine industry,” says Sam Oosterhoff, Member of Provincial Parliament for Niagara West. “It gives grape growers access to clean plant material, a robust pest management strategy and methods to expand the selection of world-class wines they produce.”

  Brock Acting Vice-President, Research Michelle McGinn says the funding “confirms Brock University’s exceptional partnerships with the grape and wine industry to create innovations that advance sustainable agriculture to the next level, boosting Niagara’s economy and protecting our shared future.”

  The project aims to commercialize tools to create:

  • disease-free grapevine material for nurseries for further propagation
  • testing services for grapevine and yeast identification
  • new commercial products for controlling vineyard insect pests
  • unique Ontario yeasts to overcome climate-change-driven fermentation challenges
  • knowledge translation programs
  • licensing of new grapevine propagation techniques
  • new wine styles

  VINO Solutions consists of 11 subprojects under the categories Start Clean, Enhance Resilience, Stay Clean and Stay Competitive. Researchers will use state-of-the-art equipment and facilities at Brock’s Research Farm, which recently received funding from the federal and Ontario governments.

  Start Clean will develop cutting-edge techniques, such as microshoot tip tissue culture therapy, green tissue culture grafting and high throughput sequencing, to produce healthy, virus-free vines while ensuring their genetic identity for the Canadian grapevine clean plant program.

  Enhance Resilience will assess the suitability of new varieties for the Ontario climate, including their cold tolerance and disease resistance, along with new vine treatments to improve grapevine cold hardiness.

  Stay Clean will develop artificial intelligence methods to detect grapevine viruses in vines and identify pheromones to disrupt the mating patterns of insect vectors of virus. These activities are part of an integrated pest management program to prevent infection and control spread of virus disease.

  Stay Competitive will focus on wine quality and flavour research to support the global competitiveness of Ontario wine. The researchers will isolate, identify and characterize unique yeast that can overcome fruit breakdown issues in grapes, enhance wine aroma and reduce alcohol content. They will also assess wine quality from new disease resistant varieties and assess their use in low-alcohol wines.

  The research project is a collaboration between individuals from Brock University, Niagara College, Simon Fraser University, University of Guelph, Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ontario Grape and Wine Research Inc., Canadian Grapevine Certification Network, Seeger Vineyards, Schenck Farms and Greenhouses, Illumina, Upper Canada Growers, Cave Springs Vineyard, ABAzyne BioSciences, Synergy Semiochemical Corportation and Stouck Vineyards.

  The VINO Solutions project was among more than 200 initiatives receiving Ontario Research Fund support, announced Nov. 22 by Minister of Colleges and Universities Nolan Quinn.

  “When we invest in research, we invest in our province’s future,” said Nolan Quinn. “These critical investments will ensure Ontario’s researchers can continue making discoveries that drive key sectors, create good-paying jobs, and improve the lives of all Ontarians.”

   

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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  Categories: Media releases

• Healthy pregnancy diet boosts kids’ emotional regulation, research says

  Monday, December 02, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE – December 2, 2024 – R0140

  All soon-to-be-parents want to give their baby the healthiest start possible, but new research shows that eating well and being physically active during pregnancy also benefits children years after birth.

  Toddlers whose mothers had a nutritious diet and exercise intervention program during pregnancy show a greater ability to regulate their emotions than those whose mothers had standard prenatal care alone, researchers found.

  “We were really excited about the findings,” says Brock University Assistant Professor of Health Sciences John Krzeczkowski, who was first author of the research study conducted during his PhD at McMaster University. The study was also authored by McMaster psychiatrist and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences Ryan Van Lieshout and Professor of Pediatrics Stephanie Atkinson.

  “The fact that we saw emotion regulation benefits in children in the intervention group highlights the potential that optimizing prenatal diet and exercise may have in reducing risk for later mental disorders in children,” he says.

  The study, published last month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, involved 50 women between 12- and 17-weeks’ gestation and divided them into two groups.

  Participants in the intervention group were given a high-protein diet including foods such as low-fat Greek yogurt, cottage cheese and low-fat milk, along with personalized nutrition counselling sessions.

  They also participated in a walking program three to four times a week, working up to 40 minutes per walk towards the end of pregnancy.

  The second group of pregnant women received regular pregnancy care alone.

  After almost two years, the researchers assessed the toddlers’ emotional regulation in tasks designed to examine impulsivity and attentional control.

  In the first task, the child sat at a table with an attractive toy. They were told to keep their hands on the table and not reach for the toy until they heard a bell, with the time between bell rings increasing. This measured the child’s ability to delay gratification.

  In the second activity, researchers gave the child a different toy and recorded how long the child played with that toy. When the child stopped playing, the researchers repeated the process twice more to determine how well and long they pay attention.

  In addition to these lab activities, both mothers and their partners filled out two questionnaires: the Child Behaviour Checklist, used to assess symptoms of emotional and behavioral problems in children, and the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version, which measures skills and processes involving memory, flexible thinking and controlling inhibitions.

  Researchers found that compared to toddlers whose mothers received regular prenatal care, toddlers whose mothers were in the intervention group:

  • Had significantly lower problems with self-control, mental flexibility and executive functioning.
  • Had fewer symptoms of behavioural and emotional problems.
  • Showed a longer attention span.
  • Exhibited less impulsive behaviour.

  “Our study was the only prenatal diet-plus-exercise intervention that provided whole foods to participants,” says Krzeczkowski. “Providing foods to participants gives us clues into how future interventions may address food disparities in equity deserving populations and benefit both the health of pregnant people as well as their child’s brain.”

  While a healthy diet in pregnancy gives children a strong start, young children’s brains remain “plastic and changeable,” he says, and can “catch up” through nutritious foods and activities that develop the brain.

  Krzeczkowski says the next step is to broaden the research to include participants from lower socio-economic backgrounds and different ethnic groups as the current study focused on largely middle-class participants of European descent.

  “The fact that we saw benefits in toddlers motivates us to begin the next steps of this research, which will involve engaging pregnant people in the research process in order to best expand these types of programs to larger, more diverse populations,” he says.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  *Sarah Ackles, Communications Specialist, Brock University [email protected] or 289-241-5483

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  Categories: Media releases