COST-STSM FA0605-7274 PATRICIA AGUDELO ROMERO
COST STSM Reference Number: STSM-FA0605-131210-003763
STSM Grantee: Dr. Patricia Agudelo-Romero (University of Lisbon, Center for Biodiversity, Functional and Integrative Genomics BioFIG), p.agudeloromero@gmail.com
Host Institute: University of Barcelona (UB), Faculty of Pharmacy. Prof. Antonio Tiburcio afernandez@ub.edu
Previously, grape ripening was studied for Trincadeira cultivar using transcriptomics and metabolomics approaches (Fortes et al., 2011) and suggested that polyamines might play an important role in the process. This data was further complemented by the metabolic profiling of Trincadeira, Touriga Nacional and Aragonês cultivars during
ripening (Ali et al., 2011). In order to evaluate the role played by polyamines in grape ripening, berries from three important Portuguese cultivars (Trincadeira, Touriga Nacional and Aragonês) were analyzed at four stages of development (green, veraison, ripe and harvest stages). This work was partially carried out at the University of
Barcelona (Spain) through an STSM and hosted by the group of Prof. Antonio Tiburcio.
Samples from the three varieties (pulp and skin) were extracted and polyamines (PAs) dansylated before being analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
The data was recorded and integrated using the ChromNAV software package. Free PAs (S), conjugated PAs (SH) and bound PAs (PH) were evaluated for all samples.
During this STSM it was possible to conclude that
(1) The predominant polyamine in all cultivars was spermidine, suggesting that putrescine is being processed to spermidine due to the activity of polyamine oxidases during grape ripening.
(2) The highest values of spermidine and putrescine were detected in the early stages of development, followed by a decrease at the end of grape ripening.
(3) Conjugated polyamines presented essentially the same profile as free polyamines and there was no detection of bound polyamines in the pericarp of the grape berries.
(4) The ranking of high to low on the accumulation of free polyamines during grape ripening was: Trincadeira, Aragonês and Touriga Nacional cultivars.
This data is being integrated with microarray data in order to gather insights on how the polyamines´ pathway is regulated during grape ripening.
I would like to thank the COST Action FA0605 for financial support of this STSM that
was carried out successfully and the anticipated intentions fulfilled.
References
Ali K, Maltese F, Fortes AM, Pais MS, Choi YH, Verpoorte R. (2011) Monitoring biochemical changes during grape berry development in Portuguese cultivars by NMR spectroscopy. Food chemistry. 124: 1760–1769.
Fortes AM, Agudelo-Romero P, Silva M S, Kashiff A, Maltese F, Choi Y H, Sousa L, Grimplet J, Zapater J, Verpoorte R. and Pais MS. (2011) Transcript and metabolite analysis in Trincadeira cultivar reveals novel information regarding the dynamics of grape ripening. (Submitted).