terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Open-GPB 9 Open-GPB-2024 9 Flash - New biotechnological tools 9 Deciphering the function and regulation of VviEPFL9 paralogs to modulate stomatal density in grapevine through New Genomic Techniques

Deciphering the function and regulation of VviEPFL9 paralogs to modulate stomatal density in grapevine through New Genomic Techniques

Abstract

Stomata are microscopic pores mainly located in leaf epidermis, allowing gas exchanges between plants and atmosphere. Stomatal initiation relies on the transcription factor SPEECHLESS which is mainly regulated by the MAP kinase cascade, in turn controlled by small signaling peptides, the Epidermal Patterning Factors (EPF and EPF-Like), namely EPF1, EPF2 and EPFL9. While EPF1 and EPF2 induce the inhibition of SPEECHLESS, their antagonist, EPFL9, stabilizes it, leading to stomatal formation. In grapevine, there are two paralogs for EPFL9, VviEPFL9-1 and VviEPFL9-2. Despite their structural similarity, it remains unclear whether they are differentially regulated and have distinct roles. In our study we showed that while VviEPFL9-1 is expressed only in the apex, VviEPFL9-2 is expressed both in the apex and in mature leaves along the plant axis and is significantly repressed by ABA. To support experimental data, an in-silico transcriptomic analysis has been carried out using publicly available datasets. In addition, both genes were functionally characterized using knock-out (KO) mutants generated via CRISPR/Cas9. Leaf stomatal density and gas exchange parameters were significantly different between ‘Sugraone’ WT plants and VviEPFL9-2 KO lines, whereas the differences were negligible between WT and VviEPFL9-1 KO lines. Moreover, a water stress experiment was carried out to deeply compare the physiology of edited lines and WT plants under drought conditions. Our results suggest that VviEPFL9 paralogs have distinct roles in determining stomatal plasticity during leaf growth, and that VviEPFL9-2 may be considered a key target to increase grapevine resilience to water deficiency.

Download the abstract

DOI:

Publication date: June 13, 2024

Issue: Open GPB 2024

Type: Article

Authors

Umar Shahbaz1,2, Pierre Videau3, Katerina Labonova3, David Navarro-Payá4, Alvaro Vidal1,2, José Tomás Matus4, Mickael Malnoy1, Olivier Zekri3, Fabio Fiorani5, Michele Faralli2, Lorenza Dalla Costa1*

1 Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all’Adige, Italy
2 Center Agriculture Food Environment (C3A), University of Trento, 38098, San Michele all’Adige, Italy
3 Novatech, Mercier Groupe, Le Champ des Noels, France
4 Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, Universitat de València-CSIC,46980 Paterna, Valencia, Spain
5 Institute of Bio- and Geo-Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany

Contact the author*

Keywords

Vitis vinifera, Epidermal Patterning Factors, CRISPR/Cas9, gas exchange, water stress

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Open GPB | Open GPB 2024

Citation

Related articles…

Phenological characterization of a wide range of Vitis Vinifera varieties

In order to study the impact of climate change on Bordeaux grape varieties and to assess the adaptation capacities of candidates to the grape varieties of this wine region to the new climatic conditions, an experimental block design composed of 52 grape varieties was set up in 2009 at the INRAE Bordeaux Aquitaine center. Among the many parameters studied, the three main phenological stages of the vine (budburst, flowering and veraison) have been closely monitored since 2012. Observations for each year, stage and variety were carried out on four independent replicates. Precocity indices have been calculated from the data obtained over the 2012-2021 period (Barbeau et al. 1998). This work allowed to group the phenological behaviour of the grapevine varieties, not only based on the timing of the subsequent developmental stages, but also on the overall precocity of the cycle and the total length of the cycle between budburst and veraison. Results regarding the variability observed among the different grape varieties for these phenological stages are presented as heat maps.

Read More

A few observations on double sigmoid fruit growth

Many fleshy fruit, including the grape berry, exhibit a double‐sigmoid growth (DSG) pattern. Identification of the curious DSG habit has long been attributed to Connors’ (1919) work with peaches

Read More

How to make a mineral wine? Producers’ representations vs. scientific data

In this video recording of the IVES science meeting 2023, Jordi Ballester (Centre des sciences du goût et de l’alimentation, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France) speaks on how to make a mineral wine, producers’ representations vs. scientific data. This presentation is based on an original article accessible for free on OENO One.

Read More

Study of the interactions between wine anthocyanins and proline rich proteins

The interaction between tannins and salivary proteins is considered to be the basis of the phenomenon of wine astringency. Recently, some authors have revealed that some anthocyanins can also contribute to this mouthfeel sensation by interacting with proline rich proteins (PRPs). However, more studies are needed in order to elucidate the affinity of anthocyanins with these proteins.

Read More

‘It’s a small, yappy dog’: The British idea of terroir

Aims: Most consumer research about terroir has focused on wine, particularly with French or other European wine drinkers, rather than those in the Anglo-Saxon world. In Europe, whilst there is no agreement amongst consumers as to what terroir actually is, there is a general recognition of the word and an acceptance that it represents something important

Read More