Fecha de publicación: 14/12/2024 Fuente: ISHS (International Society for Horticultural Science) Post date: Saturday 14 December 2024
Author:
ISHS Secretariat

Hikaru Ishikawa is a Ph.D. student at the United Graduate School of Agriculture Sciences, Iwate University in Japan, where she is currently studying berry color variation in grapes. In Japan, the berry skin color of grapes varies from green to red and black. Grapes with red skins show a red color due to the presence of cyanidin and peonidin glycosides, which are synthesized downstream of dihydroquercetin (DHQ). Hence, the fruit skin color in grapes is determined by the accumulation of anthocyanin and these compounds. In a previous study, MYBA and AOMT loci were identified as the main genetic contributors to grape skin color, but this study was unable to explain differences in the rates of red and blue anthocyanin accumulation in different cultivars. Hikaru is currently exploring the phylogenetic analysis and conservation of amino acid sequences of dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFRs) in grapes. DFRs are known to influence polymorphism on anthocyanin composition in ornamental trees. Some red varieties turn purple-black due to the increased accumulation of blue pigments such as delphinidin glycosides, which are synthesized downstream of dihydromyricetin under conditions that are favorable for color development. If the substrate specificity and function of DFR in grapes can be revealed, differences in red and blue anthocyanin accumulation rates in several cultivars can be elucidated, which may prove useful for future orange and pink grape breeding.
Hikaru Ishikawa won the ISHS Young Minds Award for the best poster presentation at the V International Symposium on Woody Ornamentals of the Temperate Zone in Japan in April 2024.
Hikaru Ishikawa, Fruit and Fruit Tree Lab., The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University, 3-18-8 Ueda, Morioka, Iwate, 020-8550, Japan, e-mail: joliealicepeace@gmail.com
The article is available in Chronica HorticulturaeTags: grape vinesCategories: Young Minds Award Winners