Metabolic consequences of infection of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cv. "Modra frankinja" with flavescence dorée phytoplasma

Nina Prezelj, Elizabeth Covington, Thomas Georg Roitsch, Kristina Gruden, Lena Fragner, Wolfram Weckwerth, Marko Chersicola, Maja Vodopivec, Marina Dermastia

32 Citations (Scopus)
63 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Flavescence dorée, caused by the quarantine phytoplasma FDp, represents the most devastating of the grapevine yellows diseases in Europe. In an integrated study we have explored the FDp-grapevine interaction in infected grapevines of cv. "Modra frankinja" under natural conditions in the vineyard. In FDp-infected leaf vein-enriched tissues, the seasonal transcriptional profiles of 14 genes selected from various metabolic pathways showed an FDp-specific plant response compared to other grapevine yellows and uncovered a new association of the SWEET17a vacuolar transporter of fructose with pathogens. Non-targeted metabolome analysis from leaf vein-enriched tissues identified 22 significantly changed compounds with increased levels during infection. Several metabolites corroborated the gene expression study. Detailed investigation of the dynamics of carbohydrate metabolism revealed significant accumulation of sucrose and starch in the mesophyll of FDp-infected leaves, as well as significant up-regulation of genes involved in their biosynthesis. In addition, infected leaves had high activities of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and, more significantly, sucrose synthase. The data support the conclusion that FDp infection inhibits phloem transport, resulting in accumulation of carbohydrates and secondary metabolites that provoke a source-sink transition and defense response status.

Original languageEnglish
Article number711
JournalFrontiers in Plant Science
Volume7
Number of pages19
ISSN1664-462X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23 May 2016

Keywords

  • Journal Article

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