Thaumatin-like Proteins and Chitinases, the Haze-Forming Proteins of Wine, Accumulate during Ripening of Grape (Vitisvinifera) Berries and Drought Stress Does Not Affect the Final Levels per Berry at Maturity

Abstract

Thaumatin-like proteins and chitinases, which are pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins, were the major soluble protein components of grapes from five cultivars of Vitis vinifera. This dominance of PR proteins was apparent at berry softening (véraison) and then throughout berry development for the Muscat of Alexandria, Sultana, and Shiraz cultivars and in the berries of the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir cultivars examined at commercial maturity. The M(r) of the major thaumatin-like protein from Muscat of Alexandria grapes was 21 272, and those of the three major chitinases from this cultivar, ChitB, ChitC, and ChitD, were 25 588, 25 410, and 25 457, respectively. The vines in the study were irrigated and showed no obvious signs of disease. Shiraz vines that had not been irrigated throughout the season were clearly water stressed, but had levels of PR proteins in the berry similar to vines that had been fully irrigated. It appears that the production of PR proteins that cause protein instability in wines by grapes may be little influenced by environmental conditions.

Proteins involved in biotic and abiotic stress responses as the most significant biomarkers in the ripening of Pinot Noir skins

“…Among these, we found spots identified as chitinases of classes III and IV, β-1,3-glucanases and pathogenesisrelated proteins 10 (PRP-10). While chitinases and β-1,3-glucanases are known to have fungal targets and probably act hydrolyzing the cell walls of fungal hyphae (Tattersall et al 1997;Pocock et al 2000), PRP-10 display antimicrobial and ribonuclease activities (Liu and Ekramoddoullah 2006). Chitinases belong to a large family of enzymes with hydrolytic activity against chitin which is a major component in the cell walls of most pathogenic fungi and in the exoskeleton of insect pests.…”

Impact of drought stress on concentration and composition of wine proteins in Riesling

“…Their relative abundance within the protein content is only low with about 1-9 % [14,17]. The majority of proteins are thaumatin-like proteins and chitinases which have molecular masses in the range of 20-30 kDa [13,15,[18][19][20][21][22]. These pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins from grapes were already described by Waters et al [23].…”

“…Particularly, grapevines growing in steep slope vineyards exposed to optimal insolation react increasingly with drought stress. Drought stress is a physiological response of vines to a water deficit characterized by growth problems and change of ingredients [21]. Particularly, young vines with superficial root systems could be affected.…”

“…Particularly, young vines with superficial root systems could be affected. Following up the study of Pocock et al [21], we carried out studies to determine the effect of drought stress on the concentration of hazeactive proteins in Riesling wine and tried to identify the specific haze-active proteins.…”

Optimization of protein extraction and solubilization for mature grape berry clusters

“…It may also reflect the difference in proteome complexity between tissues. Indeed, the callus, being undifferentiated, probably expresses a larger set of gene products than a mature berry, a highly specialized organ, with preferential expression of major proteins such as thaumatin-like proteins and chitinases [9]. Only recently, up to 381 spots could be resolved on 2-D gels from grape berry mesocarp [10].…”