Metabolic profiling reveals coordinated switches in primary carbohydrate metabolism in grape berry (Vitis vinifera L.), a non-climacteric fleshy fruit

Abstract

Changes in carbohydrate metabolism during grape berry development play a central role in shaping the final composition of the fruit. The present work aimed to identify metabolic switches during grape development and to provide insights into the timing of developmental regulation of carbohydrate metabolism. Metabolites from central carbon metabolism were measured using high-pressure anion-exchange chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry and enzymatic assays during the development of grape berries from either field-grown vines or fruiting cuttings grown in the greenhouse. Principal component analysis readily discriminated the various stages of berry development, with similar trajectories for field-grown and greenhouse samples. This showed that each stage of fruit development had a characteristic metabolic profile and provided compelling evidence that the fruit-bearing cuttings are a useful model system to investigate regulation of central carbon metabolism in grape berry. The metabolites measured showed tight coordination within their respective pathways, clustering into sugars and sugar-phosphate metabolism, glycolysis, and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In addition, there was a pronounced shift in metabolism around veraison, characterized by rapidly increasing sugar levels and decreasing organic acids. In contrast, glycolytic intermediates and sugar phosphates declined before veraison but remained fairly stable post-veraison. In summary, these detailed and comprehensive metabolite analyses revealed the timing of important switches in primary carbohydrate metabolism, which could be related to transcriptional and developmental changes within the berry to achieve an integrated understanding of grape berry development. The results are discussed in a meta-analysis comparing metabolic changes in climacteric versus non-climacteric fleshy fruits.

A Tale of Two Sugars: Trehalose 6-Phosphate and Sucrose

“…shoot apices) than in source leaves . The ratio also varies with the developmental stage of sink organs, such as developing grape (Vitis vinifera) berries (Dai et al, 2013) and developing wheat and maize seeds (Martínez-Barajas et al, 2011;Henry et al, 2015). Environmental conditions can also affect the Tre6P:Suc ratio.…”

Determination of the Activity Signature of Key Carbohydrate Metabolism Enzymes in Phenolic-rich Grapevine Tissues

“…The described adaptations may be useful for other plant species with inherently high levels of phenolic compounds or tissues that are enriched in phenolics due to exogenous factors or expression of specific transgenes. 33 This protocol provides a valuable platform for advanced metabolic fingerprinting of grapevine to complement determination of metabolites 4,[34][35][36] and will help narrow the knowledge gap between genome and phenotype in environment and agricultural management practice. …”

Characterization of the adaptive response of grapevine (cv. Tempranillo) to UV-B radiation under water deficit conditions

“…This model allows the development of vegetative (roots, leaves and shoots) and reproductive (inflorescences and clusters) organs as for the vineyard grapevines, under fully controlled environmental conditions. Fruit-bearing cuttings respond like vineyard plants to different cultural factors [19,20]. Indeed, the fruit-bearing cuttings model has been previously useful in the evaluation of the physiological response of grapevine to environmental or developmental factors [17,[20][21][22].…”