Untargeted liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry reveals metabolic changes in nitrogen-deficient Isatis indigotica Fortune

Publication date: October 2019Source: Phytochemistry, Volume 166Author(s): Yi-Wen Cao, Ren-Jun Qu, Yu-Jing Miao, Xiao-Qing Tang, Ying Zhou, Lei Wang, Li GengAbstractIsatis indigotica Fortune is a popular herb in traditional Chinese medicine, and various types of metabolites are the basis for its pharmacological efficacy. The biosynthesis and accumulation of these metabolites are closely linked to nitrogen availability; the benefits of low nitrogen application on the environment and herb quality are increasingly prominent. To analyze metabolic changes in the leaves and roots of I.indigotica in nitrogen deficiency conditions, and to identify the pathways and metabolites induced by low nitrogen availability, we used untargeted liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TripleTOF) to obtain metabolomics profiling of I.indigotica under two N-deficiency treatments (0 kg/hm2; 337.5 kg/hm2) and normal nitrogen treatment (675 kg/hm2). A total of 447 metabolites were annotated. Principal component analysis separated the three nitrogen treatments. A greater diversity of metabolites was observed in roots than in leaves under N-deficiency treatments, suggesting that roots have a more important function in low N tolerance. Differential metabolites were mainly enriched in purine metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, the shikimate pathway, tryptophan metabolism, and flavonoid biosynthesis that notably induced only in leaves in low nitrogen stress. Moderate N-defici...

Source: Phytochemistry - July 5, 2019 Category: Chemistry Source Type: research