Temperature differences between sites lead to altered phenylpropanoid metabolism in a varietal dependent manner

Kelem Gashu; Pankaj Kumar Verma; Tania Acuña; Nurit Agam; Amnon Bustan; Aaron Fait

doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1239852

Temperature differences between sites lead to altered phenylpropanoid metabolism in a varietal dependent manner

Front Plant Sci. 2023 Oct 19:14:1239852. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1239852. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kelem Gashu¹, Pankaj Kumar Verma¹, Tania Acuña¹, Nurit Agam², Amnon Bustan³, Aaron Fait⁴

Affiliations

¹ The Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'ersheba, Israel.
² Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Dryland, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'ersheba, Israel.
³ Ramat Negev Desert Agro-Research Center, Ramat Negev Works Ltd., Hazula, Israel.
⁴ Albert Katz Department of Dryland Biotechnologies, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Dryland, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'ersheba, Israel.

Abstract

Elevated temperature has already caused a significant loss of wine growing areas and resulted in inferior fruit quality, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. The existence of broad genetic diversity in V. vinifera is key in adapting viticulture to climate change; however, a lack of understanding on the variability in berry metabolic response to climate change remains a major challenge to build ad-hoc strategies for quality fruit production. In the present study, we examined the impact of a consistent temperature difference between two vineyards on polyphenol metabolism in the berries of 20 red V. vinifera cultivars across three consecutive seasons (2017-2019). The results emphasize a varietal specific response in the content of several phenylpropanoid metabolites; the interaction factor between the variety and the vineyard location was also found significant. Higher seasonal temperatures were coupled with lower flavonol and anthocyanin contents, but such reductions were not related with the level of expression of phenylpropanoid related genes. Hierarchical clustering analyses of the metabolic data revealed varieties with a location specific response, exceptional among them was Tempranillo, suggesting a greater susceptibility to temperature of this cultivar. In conclusion, our results indicate that the extensive genetic capacity of V. vinifera bears a significant potential to withstand temperature increase associated with climate change.

Keywords: LC-MS; V. vinifera; climate change; elevated temperature; phenylpropanoid metabolism; plasticity.