1
|
Zhu A, Liu M, Tian Z, Liu W, Hu X, Ao M, Jia J, Shi T, Liu H, Li D, Mao H, Su H, Yan W, Li Q, Lan C, Fernie AR, Chen W. Chemical-tag-based semi-annotated metabolomics facilitates gene identification and specialized metabolic pathway elucidation in wheat. THE PLANT CELL 2024; 36:540-558. [PMID: 37956052 PMCID: PMC10896294 DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koad286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
The importance of metabolite modification and species-specific metabolic pathways has long been recognized. However, linking the chemical structure of metabolites to gene function in order to explore the genetic and biochemical basis of metabolism has not yet been reported in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Here, we profiled metabolic fragment enrichment in wheat leaves and consequently applied chemical-tag-based semi-annotated metabolomics in a genome-wide association study in accessions of wheat. The studies revealed that all 1,483 quantified metabolites have at least one known functional group whose modification is tailored in an enzyme-catalyzed manner and eventually allows efficient candidate gene mining. A Triticeae crop-specific flavonoid pathway and its underlying metabolic gene cluster were elucidated in further functional studies. Additionally, upon overexpressing the major effect gene of the cluster TraesCS2B01G460000 (TaOMT24), the pathway was reconstructed in rice (Oryza sativa), which lacks this pathway. The reported workflow represents an efficient and unbiased approach for gene mining using forward genetics in hexaploid wheat. The resultant candidate gene list contains vast molecular resources for decoding the genetic architecture of complex traits and identifying valuable breeding targets and will ultimately aid in achieving wheat crop improvement.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anting Zhu
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Mengmeng Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Zhitao Tian
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Wei Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xin Hu
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Min Ao
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Jingqi Jia
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Taotao Shi
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Hongbo Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Dongqin Li
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Hailiang Mao
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Handong Su
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Wenhao Yan
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Qiang Li
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Caixia Lan
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Alisdair R Fernie
- Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Department of Root Biology and Symbiosis, Potsdam-Golm 14476, Germany
| | - Wei Chen
- National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement and National Center of Plant Gene Research (Wuhan), Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
de Jager N, Shukla V, Koprivova A, Lyčka M, Bilalli L, You Y, Zeier J, Kopriva S, Ristova D. Traits linked to natural variation of sulfur content in Arabidopsis thaliana. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2024; 75:1036-1050. [PMID: 37831920 PMCID: PMC10837017 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erad401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023]
Abstract
Sulfur (S) is an essential mineral nutrient for plant growth and development; it is important for primary and specialized plant metabolites that are crucial for biotic and abiotic interactions. Foliar S content varies up to 6-fold under a controlled environment, suggesting an adaptive value under certain natural environmental conditions. However, a major quantitative regulator of S content in Arabidopsis thaliana has not been identified yet, pointing to the existence of either additional genetic factors controlling sulfate/S content or of many minor quantitative regulators. Here, we use overlapping information of two separate ionomics studies to select groups of accessions with low, mid, and high foliar S content. We quantify series of metabolites, including anions (sulfate, phosphate, and nitrate), thiols (cysteine and glutathione), and seven glucosinolates, gene expression of 20 genes, sulfate uptake, and three biotic traits. Our results suggest that S content is tightly connected with sulfate uptake, the concentration of sulfate and phosphate anions, and glucosinolate and glutathione synthesis. Additionally, our results indicate that the growth of pathogenic bacteria is enhanced in the A. thaliana accessions containing higher S in their leaves, suggesting a complex regulation between S homeostasis, primary and secondary metabolism, and biotic pressures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas de Jager
- Institute for Plant Sciences, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Varsa Shukla
- Institute for Plant Sciences, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Anna Koprivova
- Institute for Plant Sciences, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Martin Lyčka
- Mendel Centre for Plant Genomics and Proteomics, Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC), Masaryk University, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
- National Centre for Biomolecular Research, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, 625 00 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Lorina Bilalli
- Institute for Plant Sciences, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Yanrong You
- Institute for Molecular Ecophysiology of Plants, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstraße 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Jürgen Zeier
- Institute for Molecular Ecophysiology of Plants, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstraße 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Stanislav Kopriva
- Institute for Plant Sciences, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Daniela Ristova
- Institute for Plant Sciences, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Malhotra B, Kumar P, Bisht NC. Defense versus growth trade-offs: Insights from glucosinolates and their catabolites. PLANT, CELL & ENVIRONMENT 2023; 46:2964-2984. [PMID: 36207995 DOI: 10.1111/pce.14462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Specialized metabolites are a structurally diverse group of naturally occurring compounds that facilitate plant-environment interactions. Their synthesis and maintenance in plants is overall a resource-demanding process that occurs at the expense of growth and reproduction and typically incurs several costs. Evidence emerging on different specialized compounds suggests that they serve multiple auxiliary functions to influence and moderate primary metabolism in plants. These new functionalities enable them to mediate trade-offs from defenses to growth and also to offset their production and maintenance costs in plants. Recent research on glucosinolates (GSLs), which are specialized metabolites of Brassicales, demonstrates their emerging multifunctionalities to fine-tune plant growth and development under variable environments. Herein, we present findings from the septennium on individual GSLs and their catabolites (GHPs) per se, that work as mobile signals within plants to mediate precise regulations of their primary physiological functions. Both GSLs and GHPs calibrate growth-defense trade-off interactions either synergistically or directly when they function as storage compounds, abiotic stress alleviators, and one-to-one regulators of growth pathways in plants. We finally summarize the overall lessons learned from GSLs and GHPs as a model and raise the most pressing questions to address the molecular-genetic intricacies of specialized metabolite-based trade-offs in plants.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bhanu Malhotra
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India
| | - Pawan Kumar
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India
| | - Naveen C Bisht
- National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Kliebenstein DJ. Is specialized metabolite regulation specialized? JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2023; 74:4942-4948. [PMID: 37260397 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erad209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Recent technical and theoretical advances have generated an explosion in the identification of specialized metabolite pathways. In comparison, our understanding of how these pathways are regulated is relatively lagging. This and the relatively young age of specialized metabolite pathways has partly contributed to a default and common paradigm whereby specialized metabolite regulation is theorized as relatively simple with a few key transcription factors and the compounds are non-regulatory end-products. In contrast, studies into model specialized metabolites, such as glucosinolates, are beginning to identify a new understanding whereby specialized metabolites are highly integrated into the plants' core metabolic, physiological, and developmental pathways. This model includes a greatly extended compendium of transcription factors controlling the pathway, key transcription factors that co-evolve with the pathway and simultaneously control core metabolic and developmental components, and finally the compounds themselves evolve regulatory connections to integrate into the plants signaling machinery. In this review, these concepts are illustrated using studies in the glucosinolate pathway within the Brassicales. This suggests that the broader community needs to reconsider how they do or do not integrate specialized metabolism into the regulatory network of their study species.
Collapse
|
5
|
Liu H, Micic N, Miller S, Crocoll C, Bjarnholt N. Species-specific dynamics of specialized metabolism in germinating sorghum grain revealed by temporal and tissue-resolved transcriptomics and metabolomics. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY : PPB 2023; 196:807-820. [PMID: 36863218 DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2023.02.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2022] [Revised: 02/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Seed germination is crucial for plant productivity, and the biochemical changes during germination affect seedling survival, plant health and yield. While the general metabolism of germination is extensively studied, the role of specialized metabolism is less investigated. We therefore analyzed the metabolism of the defense compound dhurrin during sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) grain germination and early seedling development. Dhurrin is a cyanogenic glucoside, which is catabolized into different bioactive compounds at other stages of plant development, but its fate and role during germination is unknown. We dissected sorghum grain into three different tissues and investigated dhurrin biosynthesis and catabolism at the transcriptomic, metabolomic and biochemical level. We further analyzed transcriptional signature differences of cyanogenic glucoside metabolism between sorghum and barley (Hordeum vulgare), which produces similar specialized metabolites. We found that dhurrin is de novo biosynthesized and catabolized in the growing embryonic axis as well as the scutellum and aleurone layer, two tissues otherwise mainly acknowledged for their involvement in release and transport of general metabolites from the endosperm to the embryonic axis. In contrast, genes encoding cyanogenic glucoside biosynthesis in barley are exclusively expressed in the embryonic axis. Glutathione transferase enzymes (GSTs) are involved in dhurrin catabolism and the tissue-resolved analysis of GST expression identified new pathway candidate genes and conserved GSTs as potentially important in cereal germination. Our study demonstrates a highly dynamic tissue- and species-specific specialized metabolism during cereal grain germination, highlighting the importance of tissue-resolved analyses and identification of specific roles of specialized metabolites in fundamental plant processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Huijun Liu
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark; Copenhagen Plant Science Center, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark.
| | - Nikola Micic
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark; Copenhagen Plant Science Center, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark.
| | - Sara Miller
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark; Copenhagen Plant Science Center, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark.
| | - Christoph Crocoll
- DynaMo Center, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark.
| | - Nanna Bjarnholt
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark; Copenhagen Plant Science Center, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, 1871, Denmark.
| |
Collapse
|