Grapevines use a stress signal to sweeten their fruit
Crop Improvement
The next time you sip a glass of wine made from dry-farmed grapes, you're tasting the direct result of a genetic switch that vines flip on when water gets scarce.
When grapevines don't get quite enough water, they don't just survive, they actually get sweeter. Researchers traced this to a chain of molecular signals inside the grape berry: a stress hormone triggers a cascade of proteins that open up tiny gates in the fruit's cells, letting more sugar flow in and get stored. Understanding this chain could help breeders create grapevines that make sweeter fruit while using less water.
Key Findings
Moderate water stress in grapevines activates sugar metabolism and speeds up sugar accumulation in berries
A newly identified sugar transporter gene, VvSWEET14a, sits on the cell's internal storage compartment (tonoplast) and moves glucose and fructose into it
A three-protein signaling chain (VvbZIP60 activating VvERF2/VvERF104, which switch on VvSWEET14a) links the drought hormone ABA to increased sugar storage in grape berries
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered how grapevines respond to mild drought by activating a genetic switch that pumps more sugar into grape berries, explaining why water-stressed vineyards often produce sweeter grapes.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
VvbZIP60-VvERF2/VvERF104 Module Enhances Hexose Transport under Water Stress in Grape Berries
Abstract Water stress cultivation serves as an effective strategy for both water conservation and promoting sugar accumulation in grape berries (Vitis vinifera L.). However, the key sugar transport...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis. Grapes are a non-climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.