Environmental plasticity of Pinot noir grapevine leaves: A trans‐European study of morphological and biochemical changes along a 1,500‐km latitudinal climatic gradient

Abstract

A 2-year study explored metabolic and phenotypic plasticity of sun-acclimated Vitis vinifera cv. Pinot noir leaves collected from 12 locations across a 36.69-49.98°N latitudinal gradient. Leaf morphological and biochemical parameters were analysed in the context of meteorological parameters and the latitudinal gradient. We found that leaf fresh weight and area were negatively correlated with both global and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, cumulated global radiation being a stronger correlator. Cumulative UV radiation (sumUVR) was the strongest correlator with most leaf metabolites and pigments. Leaf UV-absorbing pigments, total antioxidant capacities, and phenolic compounds increased with increasing sumUVR, whereas total carotenoids and xanthophylls decreased. Despite of this reallocation of metabolic resources from carotenoids to phenolics, an increase in xanthophyll-cycle pigments (the sum of the amounts of three xanthophylls: violaxanthin, antheraxanthin, and zeaxanthin) with increasing sumUVR indicates active, dynamic protection for the photosynthetic apparatus. In addition, increased amounts of flavonoids (quercetin glycosides) and constitutive β-carotene and α-tocopherol pools provide antioxidant protection against reactive oxygen species. However, rather than a continuum of plant acclimation responses, principal component analysis indicates clusters of metabolic states across the explored 1,500-km-long latitudinal gradient. This study emphasizes the physiological component of plant responses to latitudinal gradients and reveals the physiological plasticity that may act to complement genetic adaptations.

Seasonal Patterns in Spectral Irradiance and Leaf UV-A Absorbance Under Forest Canopies

“…Since flavonoids are a diverse metabolite group (Harborne and Williams, 2000), many qualitative and quantitative differences have been found, e.g. seasonally (Liakoura et al, 2001;Kotilainen et al, 2010), with leaf longevity (Semerdjieva et al, 2003), with leaf development (Laitinen et al, 2002), and within same species grown under differing environments (Comont et al, 2012;Castagna et al, 2017).…”

Phenolic characteristics acquired by berry skins of Vitis vinifera cv. Tempranillo in response to close‐to‐ambient solar ultraviolet radiation are mostly reflected in the resulting wines

“…Grapevine has been one of the most widely investigated woody crops regarding the effects of UV radiation, from genes to the field . Although the effects of UV on leaf physiology have been studied, the research performed on berries is more meaningful for agricultural applications. Studies of this type have assessed the effects of both ambient solar and artificially enhanced UV levels using specific cut‐off filters or lamps providing supplemental UV, respectively.…”

UV Light Acclimation Capacity of Leaf Photosynthetic and Photochemical Behaviour in Near-isohydric and Anisohydric Grapevines in Hot and Dry Environments

“…Furthermore, although being less water-balance conservative, some near-anisohydric varieties may recover rapidly after drought due to higher resistance to cavitation under severe stress conditions, and hence may display higher photosynthetic productivity under mild to moderate water stress (Alsina et al, 2007;Lovisolo et al, 2010;Sade et al, 2012). Many varieties have shown photosynthetic and metabolic tolerance and high acclimation capacity to high insolation and temperature conditions (Young et al, 2016;Castagna et al, 2017). However, decreases in the intensity of leaf gas exchange and distinct behaviours among varieties have been reported in response to UV light, heat and drought conditions (Schultz, 2003;Alsina et al, 2007;Berli et al, 2010), and reductions in net assimilation and water losses during long stress periods are frequently combined with alterations in pigment balance, namely in UV-absorbing pigments (Kolb et al, 2001;Martínez-Lüscher et al, 2013;Del-Castillo-Alonso et al, 2016).…”