Abstract
Grapevine fruit development is a dynamic process that can be divided into three stages: formation (I), lag (II), and ripening (III), in which physiological and biochemical changes occur, leading to cell differentiation and accumulation of different solutes. These stages can be positively or negatively affected by multiple environmental factors. During the last decade, efforts have been made to understand berry development from a global perspective. Special attention has been paid to transcriptional and metabolic networks associated with the control of grape berry development, and how external factors affect the ripening process. In this review, we focus on the integration of global approaches, including proteomics, metabolomics, and especially transcriptomics, to understand grape berry development. Several aspects will be considered, including seed development and the production of seedless fruits; veraison, at which anthocyanin accumulation begins in the berry skin of colored varieties; and hormonal regulation of berry development and signaling throughout ripening, focusing on the transcriptional regulation of hormone receptors, protein kinases, and genes related to secondary messenger sensing. Finally, berry responses to different environmental factors, including abiotic (temperature, water-related stress and UV-B radiation) and biotic (fungi and viruses) stresses, and how they can significantly modify both, development and composition of vine fruit, will be discussed. Until now, advances have been made due to the application of Omics tools at different molecular levels. However, the potential of these technologies should not be limited to the study of single-level questions; instead, data obtained by these platforms should be integrated to unravel the molecular aspects of grapevine development. Therefore, the current challenge is the generation of new tools that integrate large-scale data to assess new questions in this field, and to support agronomical practices.
Highlights
The grapevine (Vitis vinifera), one of the most important fruit crops worldwide, provides berries that can be used as fresh fruit, raisins, and for wine making and distillation of liquors
We focus on the integration of global approaches, including proteomics, metabolomics, and especially transcriptomics, to understand grape berry development and the influence of environmental factors on this process
Different studies based on quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis have reported a main QTL in linkage group 18 (LG18) (Doligez et al, 2002; Cabezas et al, 2006; Mejía et al, 2007; Costantini et al, 2008), which could explain between 50 and 70% of the seedlessness phenotype in grapes; LG18 could be considered as the Seed Development Inhibitor (SDI) locus trait
Summary
The grapevine (Vitis vinifera), one of the most important fruit crops worldwide, provides berries that can be used as fresh fruit, raisins, and for wine making and distillation of liquors. The second stage (stage II) is a lag phase in which important physiological and biochemical changes occur, such as softening and coloring Within this stage, veraison takes place, characterized by the beginning of the synthesis of anthocyanins, soluble flavonoids compounds that provide color to red varieties (Figure 1) (Boss et al, 1996). Stage II is a transition between an unripe fruit and the third stage of development (stage III or ripening) The latter involves important morphological and physiological changes, like color development (Boss et al, 1996), turgor reduction and berry enlargement (Chervin et al, 2008), and decreased acidity (Costenaro-da-Silva et al, 2010), among others.
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