Combined NMR and flow injection ESI-MS for Brassicaceae metabolomics

The potential of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in metabolomics and lipidomics of microalgae- a review

Microalgae biotechnology has made it possible to derive secondary bioactive metabolites from microalgae strains that have opened up their entire potential to uncover a wide range of novel metabolic capabilities and turn these into bio-products for the development of sustainable bio-refineries. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Technology (NMR) has been one of the most successful and functional research technology over the past two decades to analyse the composition, structure and functionality of distinct metabolites in the different microalgae strains. This technology offers qualitative as well as quantitative knowledge about the endogenous metabolites and lipids of low molecular mass to offer a good picture of the physiological state of biological samples in metabolomics and lipidomics studies. Henceforth, this review is aimed at introducing the metabolomics and lipidomics studies into the field of NMR technology and also highlights the protocols for the isolation and metabolic measurements of metabolites from microalgae that should be redirected to resource recovery and value-added products with a systematic and holistic approach for scalability or sustainability.

Complementary Analytical Platforms of NMR Spectroscopy and LCMS Analysis in the Metabolite Profiling of Isochrysis galbana

This study was designed to profile the metabolites of Isochrysis galbana, an indigenous and less explored microalgae species. ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) were used to establish the metabolite profiles of five different extracts of this microalga, which are hexane (Hex), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), absolute ethanol (EtOH), EtOH:water 1:1 (AqE), and 100% water (Aq). Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS–DA) of the generated profiles revealed that EtOAc and Aq extracts contain a diverse range of metabolites as compared to the other extracts with a total of twenty-one metabolites, comprising carotenoids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and amino acids, that were putatively identified from the NMR spectra. Meanwhile, thirty-two metabolites were successfully annotated from the LCMS/MS data, ten of which (palmitic acid, oleic acid, α-linolenic acid, arachidic acid, cholesterol, DHA, DPA, fucoxanthin, astaxanthin, and pheophytin) were similar to those present in the NMR profile. Another eleven glycerophospholipids were discovered using MS/MS-based molecular network (MN) platform. The results of this study, besides providing a better understanding of I.galbana’s chemical make-up, will be of importance in exploring this species potential as a feed ingredient in the aquaculture industry.

Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics of volatiles as a new tool for understanding aroma and flavour chemistry in processed food products

BACKGROUND

When foods are processed or cooked, many chemical reactions occur involving a wide range of metabolites including sugars, amino acids and lipids. These chemical processes often lead to the formation of volatile aroma compounds that can make food tastier or may introduce off-flavours. Metabolomics tools are only now being used to study the formation of these flavour compounds in order to understand better the beneficial and less beneficial aspects of food processing.

AIM OF REVIEW

To provide a critical overview of the diverse MS-based studies carried out in recent years in food metabolomics and to review some biochemical properties and flavour characteristics of the different groups of aroma-related metabolites. A description of volatiles from processed foods, and their relevant chemical and sensorial characteristics is provided. In addition, this review also summarizes the formation of the flavour compounds from their precursors, and the interconnections between Maillard reactions and the amino acid, lipid, and carbohydrate degradation pathways.

KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW

This review provides new insights into processed ingredients and describes how metabolomics will help to enable us to produce, preserve, design and distribute higher-quality foods for health promotion and better flavour.

Combining Mass Spectrometry and NMR Improves Metabolite Detection and Annotation

Despite inherent complementarity, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) are routinely separately employed to characterize metabolomics samples. More troubling is the erroneous view that metabolomics is better served by exclusively utilizing MS. Instead, we demonstrate the importance of combining NMR and MS for metabolomics by using small chemical compound treatments of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as an illustrative example. A total of 102 metabolites were detected (82 by gas chromatography-MS, 20 by NMR, and 22 by both techniques). Out of these, 47 metabolites of interest were identified: 14 metabolites were uniquely identified by NMR, and 16 metabolites were uniquely identified by GC-MS. A total of 17 metabolites were identified by both NMR and GC-MS. In general, metabolites identified by both techniques exhibited similar changes upon compound treatment. In effect, NMR identified key metabolites that were missed by MS and enhanced the overall coverage of the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway, Calvin cycle, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and amino acid biosynthetic pathways that informed on pathway activity in central carbon metabolism, leading to fatty-acid and complex-lipid synthesis. Our study emphasizes a prime advantage of combining multiple analytical techniques: the improved detection and annotation of metabolites.

Transformed Root Culture: From Genetic Transformation to NMR-Based Metabolomics

Hairy root (HR) culture is considered as "green factory" for mass production of bioactive molecules with pharmaceutical relevance. As such, HR culture has an immense potential as a valuable platform to elucidate biosynthetic pathways and physiological processes, generate recombinant therapeutic proteins, assist molecular breeding, and enhance phytoremediation efforts. However, some plant species appear recalcitrant to the classical Agrobacterium rhizogenes transformation techniques. Sonication-assisted Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (SAArT) is a highly effective method to deliver bacteria to target plant tissues that includes exposure of the explants to short periods of ultrasound in the presence of the bacteria.Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics is one of the most powerful and suitable platforms for identifying and obtaining structural information on a wide range of compounds with a high analytical precision. In terms of plant science, NMR metabolomics is used to determine the phytochemical variations of medicinal plants or commercial cultivars in certain environments and conditions, including biotic stress and plant biotic interaction, structural determination of natural products, quality control of herbal drugs or dietary supplements, and comparison of metabolite differences between plants and their respective in vitro cultures.In this chapter, we attempt to summarize our knowledge and expertise in induction of hairy roots from rare and recalcitrant plant species by SAArT technique and further methodology for extraction of secondary metabolites of moderate to high polarity and their identification by using NMR-based metabolomics.

Beyond the paradigm: Combining mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance for metabolomics

Metabolomics is undergoing tremendous growth and is being employed to solve a diversity of biological problems from environmental issues to the identification of biomarkers for human diseases. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS) are the analytical tools that are routinely, but separately, used to obtain metabolomics data sets due to their versatility, accessibility, and unique strengths. NMR requires minimal sample handling without the need for chromatography, is easily quantitative, and provides multiple means of metabolite identification, but is limited to detecting the most abundant metabolites (⩾1μM). Conversely, mass spectrometry has the ability to measure metabolites at very low concentrations (femtomolar to attomolar) and has a higher resolution (∼10³-10⁴) and dynamic range (∼10³-10⁴), but quantitation is a challenge and sample complexity may limit metabolite detection because of ion suppression. Consequently, liquid chromatography (LC) or gas chromatography (GC) is commonly employed in conjunction with MS, but this may lead to other sources of error. As a result, NMR and mass spectrometry are highly complementary, and combining the two techniques is likely to improve the overall quality of a study and enhance the coverage of the metabolome. While the majority of metabolomic studies use a single analytical source, there is a growing appreciation of the inherent value of combining NMR and MS for metabolomics. An overview of the current state of utilizing both NMR and MS for metabolomics will be presented.

An efficient high throughput metabotyping platform for screening of biomass willows

Future improvement of woody biomass crops such as willow and poplar relies on our ability to select for metabolic traits that sequester more atmospheric carbon into biomass, or into useful products to replace petrochemical streams. We describe the development of metabotyping screens for willow, using combined 1D 1H-NMR-MS. A protocol was developed to overcome 1D 1H-NMR spectral alignment problems caused by variable pH and peak broadening arising from high organic acid levels and metal cations. The outcome was a robust method to allow direct statistical comparison of profiles arising from source (leaf) and sink (stem) tissues allowing data to be normalised to a constant weight of the soluble metabolome. We also describe the analysis of two willow biomass varieties, demonstrating how fingerprints from 1D 1H-NMR-MS vary from the top to the bottom of the plant. Automated extraction of quantitative data of 56 primary and secondary metabolites from 1D 1H-NMR spectra was realised by the construction and application of a Salix metabolite spectral library using the Chenomx software suite. The optimised metabotyping screen in conjunction with automated quantitation will enable high-throughput screening of genetic collections. It also provides genotype and tissue specific data for future modelling of carbon flow in metabolic networks.

Two dimensional NMR spectroscopic approaches for exploring plant metabolome: A review

Today, most investigations of the plant metabolome tend to be based on either nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy or mass spectrometry (MS), with or without hyphenation with chromatography. Although less sensitive than MS, NMR provides a powerful complementary technique for the identification and quantification of metabolites in plant extracts. NMR spectroscopy, well appreciated by phytochemists as a particularly information-rich method, showed recent paradigm shift for the improving of metabolome(s) structural and functional characterization and for advancing the understanding of many biological processes. Furthermore, two dimensional NMR (2D NMR) experiments and the use of chemometric data analysis of NMR spectra have proven highly effective at identifying novel and known metabolites that correlate with changes in genotype or phenotype. In this review, we provide an overview of the development of NMR in the field of metabolomics with special focus on 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques and their applications in phytomedicines quality control analysis and drug discovery from natural sources, raising more attention at its potential to reduce the gap between the pace of natural products research and modern drug discovery demand.

Metabolomics in food science

Metabolomics, the newest member of the omics techniques, has become an important tool in agriculture, pharmacy, and environmental sciences. Advances in compound extraction, separation, detection, identification, and data analysis have allowed metabolomics applications in food sciences including food processing, quality, and safety. This chapter discusses recent advances and applications of metabolomics in food science.