Comparison of metabolite profiling among model cultivars of wheat, rice
and soybean under elevated ozone
Abstract
As essential source for human consumption, plants of wheat, rice and
soybean are highly sensitive to ozone (O3), resulting in significant
agricultural losses under O3 pollution. However, little is known about
the effects of elevated O3 on their metabolite profiling. In this study,
three model cultivars were used for the metabolome analysis under
elevated O3 and charcoal filtered air. Our study revealed that wheat and
rice differed significantly from soybean in metabolic number and certain
pathways. Metabolites response to elevated O3 were less in soybean,
whilst those in wheat and rice were considerably larger. Under O3
stress, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) was impaired in three crop
plants. Methylerythritol 4-phosphate pathway and glycerol phosphate
pathway were altered in wheat and rice with reduced terpene accumulation
and high level of phospholipids. However, these pathways were not
affected in soybean. Meanwhile, O3 suppressed the generation of
flavonoid via benzoic acid pathway in three crop plants. Accordingly,
the expressional level of genes coding key enzymes which catalyzed the
synthesis or degradation of these metabolites. These findings provide
valuable information for understanding of ozone’s effects on the
metabolite profiling of crop plants, exploring the metabolite
differences of three crop plants under elevated O3.