Anthocyanin composition and anthocyanin pathway gene expression in grapevine sports differing in berry skin colour

The synthesis of anthocyanins was investigated in six grapevine sports with altered skin colour. Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz grapes contained anthocyanin monoglucosides as well as acetylated and coumarylated derivatives, predominantly of malvidin, whereas Pinot Noir grapes contained only anthocyanin monoglucosides. Fruit of some sports arising from varieties with black berries either lacked anthocyanins or had much lower levels than their progenitors. A bud sport of Cabernet Sauvignon (Bronze Cabernet) exhibited a 90% reduction in anthocyanin levels, but an anthocyanin composition similar to that of the normal Cabernet Sauvignon fruit. The fruit of a white-coloured bud sport of Bronze Cabernet did not contain anthocyanins. Coloured berries of sports originating on varieties with white-skinned berries also had lower levels of anthocyanins than black grapes, but like Pinot Noir contained very low levels of acylated anthocyanins. The berries of these sports also varied in the proportions of the different types of 3-monoglucosides they contained. The results suggest that control of 3-monoglucoside synthesis and modification vary in the sports. The expression of six genes from the flavonoid biosynthetic pathway was determined. Some genes were expressed in all grapes, even where little or no anthocyanins accumulated, but expression of the gene encoding a UDP glucose-flavonoid 3-o-glucosyl transferase (UFGT) was only detected in coloured grapes that synthesised anthocyanins. Southern and northern analysis of the white grapes indicated that the UFGT gene was present but was not expressed. Thus the lack of anthocyanins in white-skinned varieties or sports correlates with a lack of expression of the UFGT gene, although the expression of some other flavonoid pathway genes was also decreased.