Gm Grapes Exhibit Higher Yield and More Inflorescences

Varieties of grapes (Vitis vinifera) have been cultivated widely in the Old World for centuries. Since then, there are efforts to improve the quality of grapes through conventional breeding and genetic engineering. In the paper, “Auxin Synthesis-Encoding Transgene Enhances Grape Fecundity” published in Plant Physiology, scientists in Italy observed an increase in shoot fruitfulness in transgenic grapes compared with the wild-type cultivars.

 An ovule-specific auxin-synthesizing (DefH9-iaaM) transgene that increases the indole-3-acetic acid (a plant hormone) content of grape transgenic berries was transformed into cultivars Silcora and Thompson Seedless. Thompson Seedless naturally has very low shoot fruitfulness, whereas Silcora has medium shoot fruitfulness. The average number of inflorescences per shoot in DefH9-iaaM Thompson Seedless was doubled compared to its wild-type control. The berry number per bunch was increased in both transgenic cultivars. Researchers found that the quality and nutritional value of transgenic berries were substantially equivalent to their control fruits.

Read the full article at http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/143/4/1689.