COMMERCIAL CROPS ECO-METABOLOMIC EVALUATION: A SEARCH FOR RESISTANCE MECHANISM, AND BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS

Abstract

Eco-metabolomics is the application of metabolomics techniques to ecology in order to characterize answers, and biochemical interactions of organisms to their environment. Untargeted metabolomic approaches provide a map about the metabolic content of plants, under specific biotic, and/or abiotic conditions. This knowledge may provide ways to manipulate the interaction between herbivores (the pest) and plants (crop), for example, by reducing the negative impact on yield, food quality, and to the environment. In this work, we are studying the interactions of commercial crops such as Gossypium hirsutum and Glycine max, and pest insects of Spodoptera genus. Our aim is to understand the constitutive and induced defense mechanisms of both plants, looking for bioactive compounds. Leaves of different genotypes of both species, under abiotic and biotic pressure, they have been analyzed by Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography hyphenated with High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-QToF MS), and by Gas Chomatography hyphenated with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). For a better understanding of the systems, the metabolomic profiling have been evaluated together with advanced statistical analysis, and biological assays. Unsupervised comparative measures grouped resistant and susceptible plants as well as correlated metabolites. Resistant and induced mechanisms to those genotypes were associated of volatile and nonvolatile organic compounds such as alcohols and aldehydes of 6 carbon atoms, indole and flavonoid derivatives, etc. This study shows the potential of metabolomics to identify bioactive compounds involved in plant defense.