Characterization and Manipulation of the Primary Components in Gibberellin Signaling in the Grape Berry

Seedless cultivars dominate the table grape industry. In these cultivars it is mandatory to apply gibberellin (GA) to stimulate berry development to a commercially acceptable size. These cultivars differ in their sensitivity to GA application, and it frequently results in adverse effects such as decreased bud fertility and increased fruit drop. Our long term goals are to (1) understand the molecular basis for the differential sensitivity and identify markers for selection of sensitive cultivars (2) to develop new strategies for targeted manipulation of the grape berry response to GA that will eliminate the need in GA application and the undesirable effects of GA on the vine, while maintaining its desirable effects on the berry. Both strategies are expected to reduce production cost and meet growing consumer demand for reduced use of chemicals. This approach relies on a comprehensive characterization of the central components in the GA signaling cascade in the berry.   Several key components in the GA signaling pathway were identified in Arabidopsis and rice, including the GA receptors, GID1s, and a family of DELLA proteins that are the major negative regulators of the GA response. GA activates its response pathway by binding to GID1s, which then target DELLAs for degradation via interaction with SLY, a DELLA specific F-box protein. In grape, only one DELLA gene was characterized prior to this study, which plays a major role in inhibiting GA-promoted stem growth and GA-repressed floral induction but it does not regulate fruit growth. Therefore, we speculated that other DELLA family member(s) may control GA responses in berry, and their identification and manipulation may result in GA-independent berry growth. In the current study we isolated two additional VvDELLA family members, two VvGID1 genes and two VvSLY genes. Arabidopsis anti-AtRGA polyclonal antibodies recognized all three purified VvDELLA proteins, but its interaction with VvDELLA3 was weaker. Overexpression of the VvDELLAs, the VvGID1s, and the VvSLYs in the Arabidopsis mutants ga1-3/rga-24, gid1a-2/1c-2 and sly1-10, respectively, rescued the various mutant phenotypes. In vitro GAdependent physical interaction was shown between the VvDELLAs and the VvGID1s, and GAindependent interaction was shown between the VvDELLAs and VvSLYs. Interestingly, VvDELLA3 did not interact with VvGID1b. Together, the results indicate that the identified grape homologs serve as functional DELLA repressors, receptors and DELLA-interacting F-box proteins. Expression analyses revealed that (1) VvDELLA2 was expressed in all the analyzed tissues and was the most abundant (2) VvDELLA1 was low expressed in berries, confirming former study (3) Except in carpels and very young berries, VvDELLA3 levels were the lowest in most tissues. (4) Expression of both VvGID1s was detected in all the grape tissues, but VvGID1b transcript levels were significantly higher than VvGID1a. (5) In general, both VvDELLAs and VvGID1s transcripts levels increased as tissues aged. Unfertilized and recently fertilized carpels did not follow this trend, suggesting different regulatory mechanism of GA signaling in these stages.   Characterization of the response to GA of various organs in three seedless cultivars revealed differential response of the berries and rachis. Interestingly, VvDELLA3 transcript levels in the GA-unresponsive berries of cv. Spring blush were significantly higher compared to their levels in the highly responsive berries of cv. Black finger. Assuming that VvDELLA2 and VvDELLA3 are regulating berry size, constructs carrying potential dominant mutations in each gene were created. Furthermore, constitutive silencing of these genes by mIR is underway, to reveal the effect of each gene on the berry phenotype.