Research funded by the Northwest Center for Small Fruits Research has focused on grape berry water relations and the role of water in berry development.
But during veraison, very few changes in berry size were observed in response to water stress or rewatering.
While berry growth still occurs during and post-veraison, increase in berry size is supported by phloem inflow and thus is accompanied with sugar import.
In the second season, I employed physiological and anatomical techniques to determine whether phloem--its structure and function--is implicated in berry shrivel.