Changes in grapevine DNA methylation and polyphenols content induced by solar ultraviolet-B radiation, water deficit and abscisic acid spray treatments

ALONSO, RODRIGO; MASUELLI, RICARDO; MARFIL, CARLOS; VARELA, ANABELLA; FONTANA, ARIEL; IBAÑEZ, VERÓNICA; BOTTINI, RUBÉN; BERLI, FEDERICO

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY

ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2018 vol. 135 p. 287 - 294

0981-9428

Environment and crop management shape plant´s phenotype. Argentinean high-altitude vineyards are char-acterized by elevated solar ultraviolet-B radiation (UVeB) and water deficit (D) that enhance enological qualityfor red winemaking. These signals promote phenolics accumulation in leaves and berries, being the responsesmediated by abscisic acid (ABA). DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that regulates gene expressionand may affect grapevine growth, development and acclimation, since methylation patterns are mitoticallyheritable. Berry skins low molecular weight polyphenols (LMWP) were characterized in field grown Vitis viniferaL. cv. Malbec plants exposed to contrasting UV-B, D, and ABA treatments during one season. The next seasonearly fruit shoots were epigenetically (methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism; MSAP) and bio-chemically (LMWP) characterized. Unstable epigenetic patterns and/or stochastic stress-induced methylationchanges were observed. UV-B and D were the treatments that induced greater number of DNA methylationchanges respect to Control; and UV-B promoted global hypermethylation of MSAP epiloci. Sequenced MSAPfragments associated with UV-B and ABA showed similarities with transcriptional regulators and ubiquitin li-gases proteins activated by light. UV-B was associated with flavonols accumulation in berries and with hydro-xycinnamic acids in the next season fruit shoots, suggesting that DNA methylation could regulate the LMWPaccumulation and participate in acclimation mechanisms.