生物谷：一项由法国科学家领导的最新研究捍卫了法国作为“葡萄酒之都”的荣誉，他们完整测定了一种葡萄的基因组。葡萄也由此成为人类完成基因测序的第一种水果作物和第四种开花植物（其它3种分别是小麦、拟南芥和白杨木），这有望加深科学家对开花植物进化过程的理解。相关论文8月26日在线发表于《自然》杂志。
该项研究由法国和意大利组成的科学家团队完成，而领导他们的是法国Genoscope国家基因测序中心的遗传学家Patrick Wincker。他们完整分析了制造勃艮第和香槟酒的主要原料——“黑比诺”（Pinot Noir）葡萄的基因序列。
利用“黑比诺”变异较少的特点，研究人员培育出了一种稳定的葡萄种系PN 40024。随后，他们将PN 40024葡萄的DNA分割成几百万个片断并分别进行了测序，再利用计算机程序将基因编码结合起来，从而得到了完整的基因组。不出所料，研究人员发现，该葡萄基因组的3000多个基因中有许多都是用来制造赋予葡萄香味的萜类化合物和丹宁酸（共有大约5亿个碱基对），而且这一比例大大超过了其他的植物。
研究人员此次专门研究了70至80个制造萜类化合物的基因，目的是为了能够通过基因改造，开发味道更加独特的葡萄酒，并增强葡萄对害虫和有害物（比如霉菌）的抵抗能力。
此次葡萄基因组的测定有助于科学家了解开花植物的一个关键进化过程，也就是大约2.5亿年前双子叶植物和单子叶植物的分化。此次测定的葡萄基因组与之前的小麦基因组对比表明，双子叶植物的基因组有大规模复制成为原来3倍的明显特点和标记。
不过，一位Genoscope研究人员Jean Weissenbach指出，遗传学家此次研究成果和认识并不能替代进化学家和葡萄酒制造者长期以来的传统观点。他说，“我们能够创造出具有不同香味的葡萄变种，但最终葡萄酒的品质则完全是另一回事。”（科学网 任霄鹏/编译）
原始出处:
Nature advance online publication 26 August 2007 | doi:10.1038/nature06148; Received 5 April 2007; Accepted 7 August 2007; Published online 26 August 2007
The grapevine genome sequence suggests ancestral hexaploidization in major angiosperm phyla
The French–Italian Public Consortium for Grapevine Genome Characterization
Genoscope (CEA) and UMR 8030 CNRS-Genoscope-Université d'Evry, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux, BP5706, 91057 Evry, France.
Istituto di Genomica Applicata, Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico di Udine, Via Linussio 51, 33100 Udine, Italy.
Dipartimento di Matematica ed Informatica, Università degli Studi di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy.
URGV, UMR INRA 1165, CNRS-Université d'Evry Genomique Végétale, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux, BP5708, 91057 Evry cedex, France.
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie ed Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy.
CRIBI, Università degli Studi di Padova, viale G. Colombo 3, 35121 Padova, Italy.
URGI, UR1164 Génomique Info, 523, Place des Terrasses, 91034 Evry Cedex, France.
UMR INRA 1131, Université de Strasbourg, Santé de la Vigne et Qualité du Vin, 28 rue de Herrlisheim, BP20507, 68021 Colmar, France.
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari e Biotecnologie, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy.
Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Università degli Studi di Bari, via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy.
Istituto Tecnologie Biomediche, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Amendola 122/D, 70125 Bari, Italy.
UMR INRA 1097, IRD-Montpellier SupAgro-Univ. Montpellier II, Diversité et Adaptation des Plantes Cultivées, 2 Place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France.
UMR INRA 1098, IRD-Montpellier SupAgro-CIRAD, Développement et Amélioration des Plantes, 2 Place Pierre Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France.
Dipartimento Scientifico e Tecnologico, Università degli Studi di Verona Strada Le Grazie 15 – Ca' Vignal, 37134 Verona, Italy.
Dipartimento di Scienze, Tecnologie e Mercati della Vite e del Vino, Università degli Studi di Verona, via della Pieve, 70 37029 S. Floriano (VR), Italy.
VIGNA-CRA Initiative; Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Biologia Molecolare delle Piante, c/o Università degli Studi di Siena, via Banchi di Sotto 55, 53100 Siena, Italy.
A list of participants and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to P.W. (Email: pwincker@genoscope.cns.fr).
Abstract
The analysis of the first plant genomes provided unexpected evidence for genome duplication events in species that had previously been considered as true diploids on the basis of their genetics1, 2, 3. These polyploidization events may have had important consequences in plant evolution, in particular for species radiation and adaptation and for the modulation of functional capacities4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Here we report a high-quality draft of the genome sequence of grapevine (Vitis vinifera) obtained from a highly homozygous genotype. The draft sequence of the grapevine genome is the fourth one produced so far for flowering plants, the second for a woody species and the first for a fruit crop (cultivated for both fruit and beverage). Grapevine was selected because of its important place in the cultural heritage of humanity beginning during the Neolithic period11. Several large expansions of gene families with roles in aromatic features are observed. The grapevine genome has not undergone recent genome duplication, thus enabling the discovery of ancestral traits and features of the genetic organization of flowering plants. This analysis reveals the contribution of three ancestral genomes to the grapevine haploid content. This ancestral arrangement is common to many dicotyledonous plants but is absent from the genome of rice, which is a monocotyledon. Furthermore, we explain the chronology of previously described whole-genome duplication events in the evolution of flowering plants.
