Abstract
Phytohormones strongly influence growth, development and nutritional quality of agricultural products by modulating molecular and biochemical changes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of root restriction (RR) treatment on the dynamic changes of main phytohormones during the berry development and ripening of “Summer Black” early ripening seedless grape (Vitis vinifera × V. labrusca), and to analyze the changes in the biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways of phytohormones by transcriptomics. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-HRMS) were used to quantify the phytohormone levels, and RNA-Seq was used to analyze the transcript abundance. The results showed that 23 transcripts involved in the phytohormone biosynthesis and 34 transcripts involved in the signal transduction pathways were significantly changed by RR treatment. RR also increased abscisic acid, brassinosteroid, ethylene, jasmonic acid and salicylic acid levels, while decreasing auxin, cytokinin, and gibberellin contents. The results of the present study suggest that RR treatment can accelerate the grape ripening process, and specific candidate genes were identified for further functional analysis.
Highlights
Grape is a non-climacteric fruit of great economic importance for both fresh produce and wine production
Our data indicated that the phytohormone levels changed in responses to RR treatment during grape berry development and ripening, and several transcripts in the phytohormone biosynthesis and signal transduction pathways were involved in the responses
Figures were drawn by Origin 8.0 (Microcal Software Inc., Northampton, MA, USA). This is the first report on the effects of root restriction on phytohormone changes in grape berry that take place during berry development and ripening
Summary
Grape is a non-climacteric fruit of great economic importance for both fresh produce and wine production. Plants have a sessile lifestyle and respond to numerous external stimuli and coordinate their growth and development [2]. These adaptations include responses to temperature and water stresses, nutrients and pathogens, many of which are mediated by phytohormones, a group of structurally unrelated small molecules, which include auxin, cytokinine, gibberellin, abscisic acid, ethylene, brassinosteroid, jasmonic acid and salicylic acid [2]. Previous reports demonstrated that RR treatment limits the growth of shoots, increases the sugars and anthocyanin contents and enhances the nitrate uptake rate of berries [3,4,5,6,7].
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