Abstract

BackgroundUltraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280-315 nm) is a natural component of sunlight, which has numerous regulatory effects on plant physiology. The nature of the response to UV-B is dependent on fluence rate, dose, duration and wavelength of the UV-B treatment. Some reports have analyzed the changes in gene expression caused by UV-B light on several plant species using microarray technology. However, there is no information on the transcriptome response triggered by UV-B in grapevine. In this paper we investigate the gene expression responses of leaves from in vitro cultured Vitis vinifera cv. Malbec plants subjected to the same dose of biologically effective UV-B radiation (4.75 kJ m-2 d-1) administered at two different fluence rates (16 h at ≅ 8.25 μW cm-2, 4 h at ≅ 33 μW cm-2) using a new custom made GrapeGen Affymetrix GeneChip®.ResultsThe number of genes modulated by high fluence rate UV-B doubled the number of genes modulated by low fluence UV-B. Their functional analyses revealed several functional categories commonly regulated by both UV-B treatments as well as categories more specifically modulated depending on UV-B fluence rate. General protective responses, namely the induction of pathways regulating synthesis of UV-B absorbing compounds such as the Phenylpropanoid pathway, the induction of different antioxidant defense systems and the activation of pathways commonly associated with pathogen defense and abiotic stress responses seem to play critical roles in grapevine responses against UV-B radiation. Furthermore, high fluence rate UV-B seemed to specifically modulate additional pathways and processes in order to protect grapevine plantlets against UV-B-induced oxidative stress, stop the cell cycle progression, and control protein degradation. On the other hand, low fluence rate UV-B regulated the expression of specific responses in the metabolism of auxin and abscisic acid as well as in the modification of cell walls that could be involved in UV-B acclimation-like processes.ConclusionOur results show the UV-B radiation effects on the leaf transcriptome of grapevine (Vitis vinifera cv. Malbec) plantlets. Functional categories commonly modulated under both UV-B treatments as well as transcripts specifically regulated in an UV-B-intensity dependent way were identified. While high fluence rate UV-B had regulatory effects mainly on defense or general multiple-stress responses pathways, low fluence rate UV-B promoted the expression of genes that could be involved in UV-B protection or the amelioration of the UV-B-induced damage. This study also provides an extensive list of genes regulating multiple metabolic pathways involved in the response of grapevine to UV-B that can be used for future researches.

Highlights

  • Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280-315 nm) is a natural component of sunlight, which has numerous regulatory effects on plant physiology

  • High UV-B has a stronger effect on gene expression than low UV-B Genome wide analysis of gene expression variation in Vitis vinifera cv

  • In order to validate the results obtained with the microarray analysis, we carried out quantitative realtime RT-PCR assays on 11 cDNA sequences using gene-specific primers (Additional file 3) based on the corresponding GrapeGen GeneChipTM probe set sequences

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280-315 nm) is a natural component of sunlight, which has numerous regulatory effects on plant physiology. The nature of the response to UV-B is dependent on fluence rate, dose, duration and wavelength of the UV-B treatment. Some reports have analyzed the changes in gene expression caused by UV-B light on several plant species using microarray technology. The effects of UV-B have been analyzed on diverse plants species and vary depending on UV-B fluence rates, duration and wavelength of the UV-B treatment [2,3,4,5,6,7]. Exposure to UV-B amounts much higher than those found in nature causes tissue necrosis and induces the expression of many genes normally involved in defense, wounding, or general stress responses. Several studies have reported damage to DNA, proteins and membranes and the inhibition of protein synthesis and photosynthetic reactions [4,8,9]

Methods
Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.