Epigenetic Regulation in Fleshy Fruit: Perspective for Grape Berry Development and Ripening

Abstract

Epigenetic regulation mainly refers to histone post-translational modifications and DNA methylation, which are critical to plant gene regulation and contribute to the development of plants and to their response to the environment. Recent molecular and epigenomic studies have shown that epigenetic regulations play critical roles in tomato fruit development and ripening, the current model for climacteric fruit. This led to a new model of ripening control where active DNA demethylation plays a central role being necessary to the induction of several genes that control fruit ripening. Whether this is a general model applying to all type of fruit, including non-climacteric fruit for which grape berry stands as a general model, is an open question that requires investigating the genome-wide variations of epigenetic marks during fruit development and ripening in many different species. Finally, the potential roles of epigenetic regulations in grapevine, a perennial, grafted, and clonally propagated plant, are discussed.