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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Model-based analysis of sugar accumulation in response to source–sink ratio and water supply in grape (Vitis vinifera) berries

Zhan Wu Dai A , Philippe Vivin A D , Thierry Robert A , Sylvie Milin A , Shao Hua Li C and Michel Génard B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A INRA, UMR 1287 Ecophysiologie et Génomique Fonctionnelle de la Vigne, Institut des Sciences de la Vigne et du Vin (ISVV Bordeaux), 210 Chemin de Leysotte, 33882 Villenave d’Ornon cedex, France.

B INRA, UR 1115 Plantes et Systèmes de Culture Horticoles, Domaine St Paul, Site Agroparc, 84914 Avignon cedex 9, France.

C Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Wuhan 430074, China.

D Corresponding author. Email: vivin@bordeaux.inra.fr

Functional Plant Biology 36(6) 527-540 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP08284
Submitted: 4 November 2008  Accepted: 11 March 2009   Published: 1 June 2009

Abstract

The dynamics of sugar (hexose) concentration in ripening grape berries (Vitis vinifera L.) were simulated with a refined mechanistic model. Changes in sugar concentration were reproduced by the sum of sugar import (S), sugar metabolism (M) and water budget (W). S and W were derived from model inputs of fresh and dry mass, and M was simulated with a relative metabolism rate describing the depletion of hexose. The relative metabolism rate was associated with the relative growth rate of dry mass with a coefficient (k) that was constant for a given cultivar under various growth conditions (temperature, water supply, and source–sink ratio) but varied with genotype. The k value was ~20% higher for cv. Merlot than for cv. Cabernet Sauvignon, indicating more imported sugars would be depleted by Merlot than Cabernet Sauvignon. The model correctly simulated the negative effect of lowered leaf-to-fruit  ratio and the positive effect of water shortage on sugar concentration. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the present model was weakly sensitive to k because of sugar accumulation being predominantly controlled by S, with M relatively small (~20%) with respect to the increment of sugar concentration. Model simulation indicated that the decreasing leaf-to-fruit ratio reduced S more than M and W, causing a net decrease in sugar concentration. In contrast, the water shortage decreased S less than M and W, resulting in a net increase in sugar concentration.

Additional keywords: modelling, sugar concentration, water supply.


Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Lionel Delbac of UMR INRA-ENITAB Santé Végétale, INRA Bordeaux, for providing field-grown grapevines, and Prof. Serge Delrot of UMR EGFV for valuable comments. We thank Marta Tanrikulu for English improving of an earlier version of this manuscript, and gratefully acknowledge anonymous reviewers’ valuable comments.


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