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Metabolomics of Photosynthetically Active Tissues in White Grapes: Effects of Light Microclimate and Stress Mitigation Strategies.

ABSTRACT: The effects of climate change are becoming a real concern for the viticulture sector, with impacts on both grapevine physiology and the quality of the fresh berries and wine. Short-term mitigation strategies, like foliar kaolin application and smart irrigation regimes, have been implemented to overcome these problems. We previously showed that these strategies also influence the photosynthetic activity of the berries themselves, specifically in the exocarp and seed. In the present work, we assessed the modulating effects of both canopy-light microclimate, kaolin and irrigation treatments on the metabolic profiles of the exocarp and seed, as well as the potential role of berry photosynthesis herein. Berries from the white variety Alvarinho were collected at two contrasting light microclimate positions within the vine canopy (HL-high light and LL-low light) from both irrigated and kaolin-treated plants, and their respective controls, at three fruit developmental stages (green, véraison and mature). Untargeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) profiling of semi-polar extracts followed by multivariate statistical analysis indicate that both the light microclimate and irrigation influenced the level of a series of phenolic compounds, depending on the ripening stage of the berries. Moreover, untargeted gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) profiling of polar extracts show that amino acid and sugar levels were influenced mainly by the interaction of irrigation and kaolin treatments. The results reveal that both photosynthetically active berry tissues had a distinct metabolic profile in response to the local light microclimate, which suggests a specific role of photosynthesis in these tissues. A higher light intensity within the canopy mainly increased the supply of carbon precursors to the phenylpropanoid/flavonoid pathway, resulting in increased levels of phenolic compounds in the exocarp, while in seeds, light mostly influenced compounds related to carbon storage and seed development. In addition, our work provides new insights into the influence of abiotic stress mitigation strategies on the composition of exocarps and seeds, which are both important tissues for the quality of grape-derived products.

SUBMITTER: Garrido A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8067353 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Viticulture practices that change the light distribution in the grapevine canopy can interfere with several physiological mechanisms, such as grape berry photosynthesis and other metabolic pathways, and consequently impact the berry biochemical composition, which is key to the final wine quality. We previously showed that the photosynthetic activity of exocarp and seed tissues from a white cultivar (Alvarinho) was in fact responsive to the light microclimate in the canopy (low and high light, LL and HL, respectively), and that these different light microclimates also led to distinct metabolite profiles, suggesting a berry tissue-specific interlink between photosynthesis and metabolism. In the present work, we analyzed the transcript levels of key genes in exocarps and seed integuments of berries from the same cultivar collected from HL and LL microclimates at three developmental stages, using real-time qPCR. In exocarp, the expression levels of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism (VvSuSy1), phenylpropanoid (VvPAL1), stilbenoid (VvSTS1), and flavan-3-ol synthesis (VvDFR, VvLAR2, and VvANR) were highest at the green stage. In seeds, the expression of several genes associated with both phenylpropanoid (VvCHS1 and VvCHS3) and flavan-3-ol synthesis (VvDFR and VvLAR2) showed a peak at the véraison stage, whereas that of RuBisCO was maintained up to the mature stage. Overall, the HL microclimate, compared to that of LL, resulted in a higher expression of genes encoding elements associated with both photosynthesis (VvChlSyn and VvRuBisCO), carbohydrate metabolism (VvSPS1), and photoprotection (carotenoid pathways genes) in both tissues. HL also induced the expression of the VvFLS1 gene, which was translated into a higher activity of the FLS enzyme producing flavonol-type flavonoids, whereas the expression of several other flavonoid pathway genes (e.g., VvCHS3, VvSTS1, VvDFR, and VvLDOX) was reduced, suggesting a specific role of flavonols in photoprotection of berries growing in the HL microclimate. This work suggests a possible link at the transcriptional level between berry photosynthesis and pathways of primary and secondary metabolism, and provides relevant information for improving the management of the light microenvironment at canopy level of the grapes.

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Metabolomics of Photosynthetically Active Tissues in White Grapes: Effects of Light Microclimate and Stress Mitigation Strategies.

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