Using an advanced type of X-ray imaging to examine ice formation inside wild grape buds, a researcher is getting a highly detailed, three-dimensional view that may help pinpoint the genes responsible for their exceptional cold hardiness. Such insight could subsequently be used to improve winter survival of vinifera grapes. CHESS yields parallel X-rays that provide highly detailed, three-dimensional images of grape buds, including this internal view of early flower formation (indicated by arrows) within a vinifera bud. (Courtesy of Al Kovaleski)   Improving the freeze tolerance of vinifera grapes is especially important with the increasingly variable winters occurring in the […]