Root proteomic and metabolic analyses reveal specific responses to drought stress in differently tolerant grapevine rootstocks.

Background: Roots play a central role in plant response to water stress (WS). They are involved in its perception and signalling to the leaf as well as in allowing the plant to adapt to maintaining an adequate water balance. Only a few studies have investigated the molecular/biochemical responses to WS in roots of perennial plants, such as grapevine.

Divergent in vitro/in vivo responses to drug treatments of highly aggressive NIH-Ras cancer cells: a PET imaging and metabolomics-mass-spectrometry study.

Oncogenic K-ras is capable to control tumor growth and progression by rewiring cancer metabolism. In vitro NIH-Ras cells convert glucose to lactate and use glutamine to sustain anabolic processes, but their in vivo environmental adaptation and multiple metabolic pathways activation ability is poorly understood. Here, we show that NIH-Ras cancer cells and tumors are able to coordinate nutrient utilization to support aggressive cell proliferation and survival.

On the role of ethylene, auxin and a GOLVEN-like peptide hormone in the regulation of peach ripening.

Background: In melting flesh peaches, auxin is necessary for system-2 ethylene synthesis and a cross-talk between ethylene and auxin occurs during the ripening process. To elucidate this interaction at the transition from maturation to ripening and the accompanying switch from system-1 to system-2 ethylene biosynthesis, fruits of melting flesh and stony hard genotypes, the latter unable to produce system-2 ethylene because of insufficient amount of auxin at ripening, were treated with auxin, ethylene and with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), known to block ethylene receptors. The effects of the treatments on the different genotypes were monitored by hormone quantifications and transcription profiling.

Comprehensive transcript profiling of two grapevine rootstock genotypes contrasting in drought susceptibility links the phenylpropanoid pathway to enhanced tolerance.

In light of ongoing climate changes in wine-growing regions, the selection of drought-tolerant rootstocks is becoming a crucial factor for developing a sustainable viticulture. In this study, M4, a new rootstock genotype that shows tolerance to drought, was compared from a genomic and transcriptomic point of view with the less drought-tolerant genotype 101.14.

Proteomic characterization of the Rph15 barley resistance gene-mediated defence responses to leaf rust.

Background: Leaf rust, caused by the biotrophic fungal pathogen Puccinia hordei, is one of the most important foliar disease of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and represents a serious threat in many production regions of the world. The leaf rust resistance gene Rph15 is of outstanding interest for resistance breeding because it confers resistance to over 350 Puccinia hordei isolates collected from around the world. Molecular and biochemical mechanisms responsible for the Rph15 effectiveness are currently not investigated.

Peach fruit ripening: A proteomic comparative analysis of the mesocarp of two cultivars with different flesh firmness at two ripening stages.

A proteomic analysis was conducted on peach fruit mesocarp in order to better elucidate the biochemical and physiological events which characterize the transition of fruit from the "unripe" to the "ripe" phase. The first goal of the present work was to set-up a protocol suitable for improving protein extraction from peach mesocarp. The use of freeze-dried powdered tissue, together with the addition of phenol prior to the extraction with an aqueous buffer, significantly increased the protein yield and the quality of 2-DE gels.

Proteins involved in biotic and abiotic stress responses as the most significant biomarkers in the ripening of Pinot Noir skins.

We propose an integrated approach, obtained by the combination of multivariate statistics and proteomics, useful to isolate candidate biomarkers for the evaluation of grape ripening. We carried out a comparative 2-DE analysis of grape skins collected in three moments of ripening and analyzed the spot volume dataset through the application of principal component analysis followed by forward stepwise-linear discriminant analysis. This technique allowed to discriminate véraison, quite mature and mature samples, and to sort the matched spots according to their significance.

Analysis of grape berry cell wall proteome: a comparative evaluation of extraction methods.

Different methods were tested for the extraction of proteins from the cell wall-enriched fraction (CWEf) obtained from a sample formed by skin and seeds of ripe berries of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon.