The white grape difference

Scientists know that the ancestors of modern grapes were all red; the mystery has been how the change from red to white berries came about.

Researchers in Japan have shown that one particular gene, which controls production of anthocyanin, the red pigment in grape skins, was mutated in white varieties.

The CSIRO team found that a second similar gene involved in the grape colour pathway is also different in white varieties. They showed that in red grapes the gene controls anthocyanin synthesis but it cannot perform this function in white grapes.

By analysing these two genes in 55 white varieties from different genetic origins, the researchers found that extremely rare and independent mutations in the two genes could have produced a single white grapevine - the parent of almost all of the world's white grape varieties.

The team has been able to develop a marker that can be used in future vine breeding to predict berry colour in seedlings, without waiting two to five years for them to grow into mature vines and produce fruit.

The marker gives plant breeders a highly accurate way of selecting for colour traits when breeding grapevines and has great potential for producing interesting and exciting new varieties with novel colours in the future.

This research was conducted by the CRC for Viticulture and CSIRO and is supported by the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation.

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