A hormone balance decides if grapevines grow fruit or curls
Ni Y, Bian Y, Xie Z, Li Y
Plant Signaling
If you've ever grown grapes on an arbor and wondered why some shoots give you clusters while others just throw out springy curls that grab everything nearby, this study explains the internal switch behind that choice and hints at vines bred to skip the tendrils altogether.
Grape tendrils, the curly threads that let vines climb, and grape flower clusters actually start out as the same kind of bud. Researchers compared a variety that mostly makes flowers with one that mostly makes tendrils and found the outcome depends on the balance between two plant hormones, plus a gene called VvFUL-L that pushes buds toward becoming tendrils. When they added that gene to a test plant, it flowered earlier and branched less, confirming the gene's role in steering the plant's choice.
Key Findings
The flower-prone grape variety 'Einset Seedless' had a higher flowering rate at tendril nodes 1-4 than the tendril-prone 'Pinot Noir'.
Comparing gene activity between the two varieties turned up 549 differentially expressed genes, with hormone and MAPK signaling pathways standing out as the main drivers of the flower-versus-tendril split; the ratio of the hormones zeatin (a cytokinin) to gibberellin tracked closely with the flowering pattern.
Overexpressing the MADS-box gene VvFUL-L, which was strongly turned up in Pinot Noir tendrils, caused test plants (Arabidopsis) to flower earlier and branch less, pointing to its role in tipping buds toward tendril rather than flower development.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that grapevines make either grape clusters or curly tendrils on the same type of shoot depending on a tug-of-war between two plant hormones and a single gene, offering a possible way to breed vines that grow fewer of the useless tendrils vineyard workers spend hours trimming.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Comparative transcriptomics reveals hormone signaling and MADS-box genes in divergent development of inflorescences and tendrils in grapevine lateral shoots.
Hormone signaling and MADS-box genes regulate grapevine tendril and inflorescence growth divergence, offering molecular insights for managing tendril growth. Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) tendrils ...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
Vitis (grapevine) is a genus of about 80 species of twining plants in the family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce wine....