Reineke, A. and Selim, M.
2019
Elevated atmospheric
CO2 concentrations
alter grapevine
(Vitis vinifera)
systemic transcriptional
response to European
grapevine moth
(Lobesia botrana)
herbivory
Scientific Reports 9: 2995,
DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-39979-5.
NOTE:
Grapevine (Vitis spp.) is an
important commodity crop
cultivated in temperate regions
around the world.
Very little is known about
its potential combined response
with insect herbivory under
various future climate change
scenarios.
SUMMARY:
The bottom line:
More robust growth
and grape harvests
in the years and decades
to come as the air's
CO2 concentration
continues to rise.
Results of the analysis revealed,
in the words of the authors,
that "grapevine
transcriptional response
to herbivory was
clearly dependent on
phenological stage,
with a higher number
of differentially expressed
genes identified at
fruit development
compared to
berry ripening."
Many of the
gene expression patterns
observed at elevated CO2
were associated with
improvements in biotic stimuli
or defense responses
to L. botrana herbivory.
Reineke and Selim conclude
by saying their study
"indicates that future
elevated CO2
concentrations
will affect interactions
between grapevine plants
and one of its
key insect pests,
with consequences
for future relevance of
L. botrana in worldwide
viticulture."
DETAILS:
The two German researchers
set out to investigate the
transcriptomic response
of grapevine plants to
insect herbivory from the
European grapevine moth
(Lobesia botrana).
The work was conducted
at the Geisenheim Vineyard
FACE facility at Geisenheim
University, Germany.
Two Vitis vinifera cultivars
were used in the study
(Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon)
and grown under ambient
or elevated CO2 concentrations,
the latter of which only amounted
to a meager +58 ppm above ambient
during daylight hours.
At the "development of fruits"
and "ripening of berries" stages,
a subset of plants growing
in the two CO2 treatments
was subjected to herbivory
by L. botrana.
In this instance, five larvae
were placed per grape bunch
and were allowed to feed
for four days.
To prevent herbivore escape,
nylon mesh bags were used
to cover the grape bunches.
Control plants also received
nylon mesh bags, but without
larvae infestation.
Leaf samples were thereafter
collected from both herbivore i
nfected and non-infected leaves
and subjected to transcriptome
sequencing in order to assess
if grapevine plants would show
a differential transcriptomic
response to herbivory
based on CO2 concentration.