Transcriptomic analysis of ‘Campbell Early’ and ‘Muscat Bailey A’ grapevine shoots exposed to freezing cold stress

Abstract

To understand the responses of grapevines in response to cold stress causing the limited growth and development, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were screened through transcriptome analysis of shoots from 2 grapevine cultivars (`Campbell Early` and `Muscat Baily A`) kept at - for 4 days. In gene ontology analysis of DEGs from `Campbell Early`, there were 17,424 clones related with biological process, 28,954 with cellular component, and 6,972 with molecular function genes in response to freezing temperature. The major induced genes included dehydrin xero 1, K-box region and MADS-box transcription factor family protein, and MYB domain protein 36, and inhibited genes included light-harvesting chlorophyll B-binding protein 3, FASCICLIN-like arabinoogalactan 9, and pectin methylesterase 61 in `Campbell Early` grapevines. In gene ontology analysis of DEGs from `Muscat Baily A`, there were 1,157 clones related with biological process, 1,350 with cellular component, and 431 with molecular function gene. The major induced genes of `Muscat Baily A` included NB-ARC domain-containing disease resistance protein, fatty acid hydrozylase superfamily, and isopentenyltransferase 3, and inhibited genes included binding, IAP-like protein 1, and pentatricopeptide repeat superfamily protein. All major DEGs were shown to be expressed differentially by freezing temperature in real time-PCR analysis. Protein domain analysis using InterPro Scan revealed that ubiquitin-protein ligase was redundant in both tested grapevines. Transcriptome profile of shoots exposed to cold can provide new insights into the molecular basis of tolerance to low-temperature in grapevines, and can be used as resources for development new grapevines tolerant to coldness.