Ling Su

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is one of the major economic fruit crops but suffers many diseases, causing damage to the quality of grapes. Strain G166 was isolated from the rhizosphere of grapevine and was found to exhibited broad-spectrum antagonistic activities against fungal pathogens on grapes in vitro, such as Coniella diplodiella, Botrytis cinerea, and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that G166 contained a 6,613,582 bp circular chromosome with 5749 predicted coding DNA sequences and an average GC content of 60.57%. TYGS analysis revealed that G166 belongs to Pseudomonas viciae. Phenotype analysis indicated that P. viciae G166 remarkably reduced the severity of grape white rot disease in the grapevine. After inoculation with C. diplodiella, more H₂O₂ and MDA accumulated in the leaves and resulted in decreases in the Pn and chlorophyll content. Conversely, G166-treated grapevine displayed less oxidative damage with lower H₂O₂ levels and MDA contents under the pathogen treatments. Subsequently, G166-treated grapevine could sustain a normal Pn and chlorophyll content. Moreover, the application of P. viciae G166 inhibited the growth of mycelia on detached leaves and berries, while more disease symptoms occurred in non-bacterized leaves and berries. Therefore, P. viciae G166 served as a powerful bioagent against grape white rot disease. Using antiSMASH prediction and genome comparisons, a relationship between non-ribosomal peptide synthase clusters and antifungal activity was found in the genome of P. viciae G166. Taken together, P. viciae G166 shows promising antifungal potential to improve fruit quality and yield in ecological agriculture.

To cultivate different grape varieties according to market needs, it is necessary to study the regulation mechanism of color changes in different development stages of grapes. In this study, RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) technology was used to compare and analyze the transcriptome data of four grape varieties at the same development stage. Among the annotated differential genes, the anthocyanin synthesis pathway in the flavonoid pathway was mainly studied. Further RT-qPCR analysis of key enzyme genes, in the flavonoid synthesis pathway of the anthocyanin metabolism pathway, showed that the MYB transcription factor family had binding sites at the start of the four enzyme genes. The relative expression of the MYB transcription factor and enzyme gene in the transcriptome data was verified by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Subcellular localization and gene function verification of the transcription factor MYB2 confirmed its regulatory role in anthocyanins.