Serine carboxypeptidase-like (SCPL) proteins are a group of acyltransferase enzymes that have important roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses.  Although SCPL proteins have been studied in many plants, the biological functions of SCPL genes in grape are still unknown.  In this study, 59 putative SCPL proteins were identified from the grape genome.  A bioinformatics analysis, including chromosomal locations, exon/intron structures, phylogeny, cis-elements, and conserved motifs, was performed for the gene family.  The phylogenetic analysis revealed that VvSCPL proteins could be classified into three groups, with the gene motifs in each group showing high similarity levels.  The number of exons in the VvSCPL genes ranged from 1 to 19, suggesting significant variations among grape SCPL genes.  The expression of the VvSCPL genes, as assessed by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and quantitative real-time PCR, showed that most VvSCPL genes responded to drought- and waterlogging-stress treatments, which indicated their roles in abiotic stress responses.  The results provide useful information for further study of SCPL genes in grape.

China has the largest apple planting area and total yield in the world, and the Fuji apple is the major cultivar, accounting for more than 70% of apple planting acreage in China.  Apple qualities are affected by meteorological conditions, soil types, nutrient content of soil, and management practices.  Meteorological factors, such as light, temperature and moisture are key environmental conditions affecting apple quality that are difficult to regulate and control.  This study was performed to determine the effect of meteorological factors on the qualities of Fuji apple and to provide evidence for a reasonable regional layout and planting of Fuji apple in China.  Fruit samples of Fuji apple and meteorological data were investigated from 153 commercial Fuji apple orchards located in 51 counties of 11 regions in China from 2010 to 2011.  Partial least-squares regression and linear programming were used to analyze the effect model and impact weight of meteorological factors on fruit quality, to determine the major meteorological factors influencing fruit quality attributes, and to establish a regression equation to optimize meteorological factors for high-quality Fuji apples.  Results showed relationships between fruit quality attributes and meteorological factors among the various apple producing counties in China.  The mean, minimum, and maximum temperatures from April to October had the highest positive effects on fruit qualities in model effect loadings and weights, followed by the mean annual temperature and the sunshine percentage, the temperature difference between day and night, and the total precipitation for the same period.  In contrast, annual total precipitation and relative humidity from April to October had negative effects on fruit quality.  The meteorological factors exhibited distinct effects on the different fruit quality attributes.  Soluble solid content was affected from the high to the low row preface by annual total precipitation, the minimum temperature from April to October, the mean temperature from April to October, the temperature difference between day and night, and the mean annual temperature.  The regression equation showed that the optimum meteorological factors on fruit quality were the mean annual temperature of 5.5–18°C and the annual total precipitation of 602–1 121 mm for the whole year, and the mean temperature of 13.3–19.6°C, the minimum temperature of 7.8–18.5°C, the maximum temperature of 19.5°C, the temperature difference of 13.7°C between day and night, the total precipitation of 227 mm, the relative humidity of 57.5–84.0%, and the sunshine percentage of 36.5–70.0% during the growing period (from April to October).