Unravelling the regulatory network putatively controlling flavonoid biosynthesis in grapevine

Flavonoids are secondary metabolites important for grape and wine quality. The biosynthetic pathway is highly regulated in order that they are produced in different organs and at various stages of development. Recent studies demonstrated that a WD40-bHLH-MYB regulatory complex controls the flavonoid pathway in grapevine. In other species this complex is responsible for the regulation of other metabolic processes through the control of other intermediate regulators. In this PhD project, we studied the roles of VvMYB5a and VvMYB5b, two putative members of the complex in grapevine (Deluc 2006, 2008). Moreover, the involvement of VvWRKY19 as a putative intermediate regulator belonging to the regulatory network was investigated.