Cluster thinning and girdling are common and simple practices applied to improve berry quality in table grape cultivation. However, there is limited information about the accumulation and biosynthesis of the entire aromatic profile under cluster thinning and girdling, notably in table grapes. This research investigated the influences of cluster thinning and girdling (alone or in combination) on aroma profiles, particularly the changes in biosynthesis and accumulation of Muscat-flavored related compounds from véraison to harvest in ‘Jumeigui’ grape. Cluster thinning and girdling (alone or in combination) significantly increased the concentrations of total soluble solids (TSS) and key aromatic compounds at harvest, with higher concentrations of both under cluster thinning than girdling. Berry weight and titratable acidity (TA) were unaffected by cluster thinning, girdling, or in combination at harvest. Linalool, the most abundant and active odorant related to Muscat flavor, accumulated in 28.6% and 20.2% higher concentrations from cluster thinning than control and girdling at maturity, respectively. Furthermore, higherDXS3transcript abundance in cluster thinning groups might contribute to the increased accumulation of terpenes and linalool in ‘Jumeigui’ grape. The results will contribute to further understand the mechanism of source/sink ratio modulation on aroma accumulation and better apply cluster thinning and girdling for grape production.

Grapevine is one of the most important fruit-bearing plants worldwide, for which bagging treatments can effectively improve fruit quality. However, the low-light conditions caused by bagging can delay grape berry maturation. Here, we analyzed glucose, fructose, and anthocyanin contents and the expression of sugar and anthocyanin-metabolism pathway genes in the grape berries of two cultivars, ‘Shenhua’ and ‘Shenfeng’, under different bagging treatments. Color development was incomplete in bagged grape berries and their soluble sugar contents were lower than those detected in un-bagged fruits. However, fruit color and SSC could be rapidly restored to normal levels after removing bags. Light affects the accumulation of sugar in grape berries, especially near the maturation period, as well as the contents and compositions of anthocyanins in the skin of grape berries. Although light helps in the accumulation of anthocyanins, significant differences were detected in anthocyanin composition between the two grapevine varieties. In addition, the expressions of myofibroblastic regulatory genes in the anthocyanin pathway were affected by light, and the light-responsive elements elongated hypocotyl 5 and constitutive photomorphogenic 1 acted synergistically to control grape berry coloration. Overall, these results provide a theoretical basis for the maturation mechanism in grape berries. ********* In press - Online First. Article has been peer reviewed, accepted for publication and published online without pagination. It will receive pagination when the issue will be ready for publishing as a complete number (Volume 47, Issue 4, 2019). The article is searchable and citable by Digital Object Identifier (DOI). DOI link will become active after the article will be included in the complete issue. *********

High temperature causes premature grape leaf senescence, abnormal berry softening, and shortening of the fruiting period. Furthermore, the fruit quality and yield are severely affected. Here, the “Jumeigui” grape quality and leaf senescence were evaluated under shading; green, blue, black, and gray nets were used for shading, and their spectra were measured. At the same density, the shade-net color significantly affected cooling and shading efficiencies, with gray nets showing the best light transmission and cooling effect. Shading significantly alleviated abnormal heat-induced grape softness. The total soluble solids (TSS) content and grape coloration were affected under gray, blue, and green shade nets. Nonetheless, TSS exceeded 18 °Brix under gray, blue, and green nets, as required of first-class high-quality fruit. The peel color was not significantly affected under gray or blue shade nets, whereas unshaded grapes showed clear heat-stress damage, especially on the edges of unshaded bottom leaves, in which the net photosynthesis rate was significantly lower than that under shading, indicating that high light intensity and heat caused premature leaf senescence. Colored shade nets reduced greenhouse temperature and light intensity, thereby alleviating the premature senescence of grape plants. Grape quality under black shade nets was poor, whereas superior quality was achieved using gray or blue shade nets.

Arbuscular mycorrhizae fungi (AMF) plays an important role in plants’ response to environmental stress, and the main environmental stress encountered in grape production is high temperature stress. This study aims to inoculate Funneliformis mosseae (A type of AMF) on grapes and investigate their tolerance to high temperature stress after inoculation. The results showed that AMF could infect grape roots, and the mycorrhizal infection rate was 20.78%. After inoculation with AMF, the growth of grape plants was significantly better than that in the non-inoculation group. Compared with the uninoculated group, the net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance were higher in the AMF group, and the intercellular CO₂ concentration was lower. After high temperature treatment, there was no significant difference in the content of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in grape leaves between the two experimental groups at each time, and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and other enzymes showed great differences, especially after high temperature treatment for 6 h. The activities of SOD, POD and CAT in AMF group were significantly higher than those in uninoculated group. The content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in grape leaves of the two experimental groups had no significant difference between 0 h and 3 h after high temperature treatment, and the MDA content in the AMF group was significantly lower than that in the uninoculated group after 6 h of high temperature treatment. The contents of soluble sugar and soluble protein in the AMF group were higher than those in the uninoculated group at all time periods, especially after 6 h of high temperature treatment. In addition, we found that VvHSP70, VvHSP17.9, VvGLOS1, VvHSFA2 genes all responded to high temperature stress, but there was no significant difference between the AMF group and the uninoculated group. It can be seen from the above that AMF can significantly enhance the adaptability of grape plants to high temperature stress by improving photosynthetic efficiency, antioxidant enzyme activity, soluble sugar and soluble protein content, and reduce Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, which provides guidance and theoretical basis for grape production.

To overcome unsatisfactory appearance and flavor in grape berries, both cluster thinning and girdling are the practices widely applied in southern China. However, the changes in sugar, anthocyanin and ABA accumulation under cluster thinning and girdling, as well as the interactive effects of these two practices were poorly understood. In present study, four treatments (control, girdling, cluster thinning, and cluster thinning + girdling) were conducted prior to veraison in ‘Jumeigui’ table grapes across two consecutive seasons. It was shown that cluster thinning significantly increased sugar and anthocyanin concentrations, whereas girdling had no positive impact on these parameters at maturity. Both cluster thinning and girdling upregulated the transcript abundance of several corresponding genes involved in sugar accumulation and anthocyanin biosynthesis. The low LA/yield proportion under girdling against that under cluster thinning might result in low sugar and anthocyanin contents even though the transcript abundance of corresponding genes was upregulated. Furthermore, cluster thinning accelerated berry ABA biosynthesis, which was strongly correlated with the transcript abundance of NCED1 and NCED2, but girdling did not. The acceleration of ABA biosynthesis in ‘Jumeigui’ berries under cluster thinning might stimulate early sugar accumulation and anthocyanin biosynthesis, and then lead to higher sugar and anthocyanin contents than that seen with girdling.