Proteomic analysis of berry-sizing effect of GA3 on seedless Vitis vinifera L

Gibberellin (GA) is widely used in the table grape and raisin industries to enlarge the berries of seedless varieties. However, the mechanism underlying its berry-sizing effect is poorly understood. In this study, clusters of Centennial Seedless (Vitis vinifera L.) were treated with 30 ppm GA3 on day 12 after flowering, and berries were sampled at development stages I, II and III for proteomic analysis. Among the 1479 proteins detected on 2-DE maps, 19, 70 and 69 spots in stages I, II and III, respectively, showed an at least twofold difference in volume between treatments and controls. Of these, 125 proteins were successfully identified and assigned to eight functional groups, chief among them are metabolism and energy, stress response, expression regulation and cytoskeleton proteins. Stress-response proteins were predominantly down-regulated in GA3-treated berries in stages I and II, and significantly up-regulated in stage III. Up-regulation of cytoskeleton, cell-wall modification and other important proteins was found in the two latter stages of berry development. Our proteomic results and subsequent validation revealed, for the first time, the role of redox homeostasis in GA3-induced berry enlargement and markedly remodeled cellular protein expression in treated berries.