Plant Organization Based on Source-Sink Relationships: New Findings on Developmental, Biochemical and Molecular Responses to Environment

Abstract

The study of plant physiology as applied to the grapevine has been significantly advanced by the techniques of molecular biology and biotechnology. The study of the precise function of a gene, and the manipulation of that gene provide an efficient tool in the search for greater understanding of physiological and biochemical mechanisms. However, except when the function of a gene particularly limits the functioning of the plant, or when it is completely new and additive within the plant, such a study must be placed in the context of interactions with other genes and within the plant, as a whole.