OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data OA All Versions of this Article: 147/4/2107    most recent pp.108.117754v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (12) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Böttcher, C. Articles by Clemens, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Böttcher, C. Articles by Clemens, S. Agricola Articles by Böttcher, C. Articles by Clemens, S.

BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES AND MACROMOLECULAR STRUCTURES

Metabolome Analysis of Biosynthetic Mutants Reveals a Diversity of Metabolic Changes and Allows Identification of a Large Number of New Compounds in Arabidopsis^1,[W],[OA]

Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Department of Stress and Developmental Biology, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (C.B., E.v.R.-L., C.S., S.N., D.S., S.C.); Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, 06120 Halle/Saale, Germany (J.S.); and University of Bayreuth, Department of Plant Physiology, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany (S.C.)

Metabolomics is facing a major challenge: the lack of knowledge about metabolites present in a given biological system. Thus, large-scale discovery of metabolites is considered an essential step toward a better understanding of plant metabolism. We show here that the application of a metabolomics approach generating structural information for the analysis of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants allows the efficient cataloging of metabolites. Fifty-six percent of the features that showed significant differences in abundance between seeds of wild-type, transparent testa4, and transparent testa5 plants could be annotated. Seventy-five compounds were structurally characterized, 21 of which could be identified. About 40 compounds had not been known from Arabidopsis before. Also, the high-resolution analysis revealed an unanticipated expansion of metabolic conversions upstream of biosynthetic blocks. Deficiency in chalcone synthase results in the increased seed-specific biosynthesis of a range of phenolic choline esters. Similarly, a lack of chalcone isomerase activity leads to the accumulation of various naringenin chalcone derivatives. Furthermore, our data provide insight into the connection between p-coumaroyl-coenzyme A-dependent pathways. Lack of flavonoid biosynthesis results in elevated synthesis not only of p-coumarate-derived choline esters but also of sinapate-derived metabolites. However, sinapoylcholine is not the only accumulating end product. Instead, we observed specific and sophisticated changes in the complex pattern of sinapate derivatives.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Stephan Clemens (stephan.clemens{at}uni-bayreuth.de).

^[W] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.

^[OA] Open Access articles can be viewed online without a subscription.

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.108.117754

^* Corresponding author; e-mail stephan.clemens{at}uni-bayreuth.de.

Received February 13, 2008; accepted June 11, 2008; published June 13, 2008.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Thompson, J. Burstin, and K. Gallardo Post-Genomics Studies of Developmental Processes in Legume Seeds Plant Physiology, November 1, 2009; 151(3): 1023 - 1029. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Khandal, I. Samol, F. Buhr, S. Pollmann, H. Schmidt, S. Clemens, S. Reinbothe, and C. Reinbothe Singlet oxygen-dependent translational control in the tigrina-d.12 mutant of barley PNAS, August 4, 2009; 106(31): 13112 - 13117. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Bottcher, L. Westphal, C. Schmotz, E. Prade, D. Scheel, and E. Glawischnig The Multifunctional Enzyme CYP71B15 (PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT3) Converts Cysteine-Indole-3-Acetonitrile to Camalexin in the Indole-3-Acetonitrile Metabolic Network of Arabidopsis thaliana PLANT CELL, June 1, 2009; 21(6): 1830 - 1845. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]