Xiangjing Yi, Stacy D. Singer , Hengbo Qiao, Yajun Liu , Chen Jiao, Hao Wang , Zhi Li, Zhangjun Fei, Yuejin Wang, Chonghui Fan,Xiping Wang.Insights into the Mechanisms Underlying Ultraviolet-C Induced Resveratrol Metabolism in Grapevine (V. amurensis Rupr.) cv. “Tonghua-3”.

Insights into the Mechanisms Underlying Ultraviolet-C Induced Resveratrol Metabolism in Grapevine (V. amurensis Rupr.) cv. “Tonghua-3”.

Xiangjing Yi, Stacy D. Singer , Hengbo Qiao, Yajun Liu , Chen Jiao, Hao Wang ,Zhi Li, Zhangjun Fei, Yuejin Wang, Chonghui Fan,Xiping Wang.

Frontiers in Plant Science

DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00503

Abstract:  Stilbene compounds belong to a family of secondary metabolites that are derived from the phenylpropanoid pathway. Production of the stilbene phytoalexin, resveratrol, in grape ( Vitis spp.) berries is known to be induced by ultraviolet-C radiation (UV-C), which has numerous regulatory effects on plant physiology. While previous studies have described changes in gene expression caused by UV-C light in several plant species, such information has yet to be reported for grapevine. We investigated both the resveratrol content and gene expression responses of berries from V. amurensis cv. Tonghua-3 following UV-C treatment, to accelerate research into resveratrol metabolism. Comparative RNA-Seq profiling of UV-C treated and untreated grape berries resulted in the identification of a large number of differentially expressed genes. Gene ontology (GO) term classification and biochemical pathway analyses suggested that UV-C treatment caused changes in various cellular processes, as well as in both hormone and secondary metabolism. The data further indicate that UV-C induced increases in resveratrol may be related to the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in the production of  secondary metabolites and signaling, as well as several transcription factors. We also observed that following UV-C treatment, 22 stilbene synthase ( STS ) genes exhibited increases in their expression levels and a VaSTS promoter drove the expression of the GUS  reporter gene when expressed in tobacco. We therefore propose that UV-C induction of VaSTS expression is an important factor in promoting resveratrol accumulation. This transcriptome data set provides new insight into the response of grape berries to UV-C treatment, and suggests candidate genes, or promoter activity of related genes,that could be used in future functional and molecular biological studies of resveratrol metabolism.