Transcriptomic analysis of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) leaves during and after recovery from heat stress

Abstract

BackgroundGrapes are a major fruit crop around the world. Heat stress can significantly reduce grape yield and quality. Changes at the molecular level in response to heat stress and subsequent recovery are poorly understood. To elucidate the effect of heat stress and subsequent recovery on expression of genes by grape leaves representing the classic heat stress response and thermotolerance mechanisms, transcript abundance of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) leaves was quantified using the Affymetrix Grape Genome oligonucleotide microarray (15,700 transcripts), followed by quantitative Real-Time PCR validation for some transcript profiles.ResultsWe found that about 8% of the total probe sets were responsive to heat stress and/or to subsequent recovery in grape leaves. The heat stress and recovery responses were characterized by different transcriptional changes. The number of heat stress-regulated genes was almost twice the number of recovery-regulated genes. The responsive genes identified in this study belong to a large number of important traits and biological pathways, including cell rescue (i.e., antioxidant enzymes), protein fate (i.e., HSPs), primary and secondary metabolism, transcription factors, signal transduction, and development. We have identified some common genes and heat shock factors (HSFs) that were modulated differentially by heat stress and recovery. Most HSP genes were upregulated by heat stress but were downregulated by the recovery. On the other hand, some specific HSP genes or HSFs were uniquely responsive to heat stress or recovery.ConclusionThe effect of heat stress and recovery on grape appears to be associated with multiple processes and mechanisms including stress-related genes, transcription factors, and metabolism. Heat stress and recovery elicited common up- or downregulated genes as well as unique sets of responsive genes. Moreover, some genes were regulated in opposite directions by heat stress and recovery. The results indicated HSPs, especially small HSPs, antioxidant enzymes (i.e., ascorbate peroxidase), and galactinol synthase may be important to thermotolerance of grape. HSF30 may be a key regulator for heat stress and recovery, while HSF7 and HSF1 may only be specific to recovery. The identification of heat stress or recovery responsive genes in this study provides novel insights into the molecular basis for heat tolerance in grape leaves.

Day and night heat stress trigger different transcriptomic responses in green and ripening grapevine (vitis vinifera) fruit

“…The short heat stress period of 2 h in the present study presumably enhanced the induction of these transcripts in which over-expression was not observed with longer temperature treatments in other studies where plants started to adapt to their changed conditions [66-68]. Heat-shock proteins (HSPs)/chaperones are responsible for protein folding, assembly, translocation and degradation in many normal cellular processes; they stabilize proteins and membranes, and can assist in protein refolding under stress conditions thus preventing the formation of abnormally folded protein structures [69].…”

Integrating Omics and Alternative Splicing Reveals Insights into Grape Response to High Temperature

“…Three-week-old Arabidopsis plants had increased expression of AtHSP23.6 following exposure to heat stress (Rhoads et al, 2005). Liu et al (2012) found the transcriptional levels of HSP17.6, HSP22, and HSP40 to be increased significantly in grape leaves under a high temperature (45°C). This study identified seven co-up-regulated sHSPs at transcriptional and translational levels in grape leaves under 40°C and 45°C.…”

“…Although our understanding of the response and adaptation of grape to high temperature is limited and has focused mostly on grape morphological and physiological changes, increasing data on mRNA expression and the proteome during heat stress responses in grape have provided novel insights into the underlying molecular mechanism. Transcriptomic analysis of grape leaves under heat stress and subsequent recovery showed that the effect of heat stress and recovery on grape appears to be associated with multiple processes and mechanisms, including stress-related genes, transcription factors, and metabolism (Liu et al, 2012). Carbonell-Bejerano et al (2013) revealed that the establishment of a thermotolerance response in berries under high temperatures was marked by the induction of HSPs and the repression of transmembrane transporter-encoding transcripts using the GrapeGen GeneChip.…”

Genome-wide analysis and expression profile of the bZIP transcription factor gene family in grapevine (Vitis vinifera)

“…After heat treatment for 0, 2, 5 hours, plants were kept for 24 hours at 25°C for rapid recovery [27]. Each treatment contained three treated plants, or biological replicates, and three corresponding non-treated control.…”