Metabolomics as an Emerging Tool for the Study of Plant–Pathogen Interactions

Abstract

Plants defend themselves from most microbial attacks via mechanisms including cell wall fortification, production of antimicrobial compounds, and generation of reactive oxygen species. Successful pathogens overcome these host defenses, as well as obtain nutrients from the host. Perturbations of plant metabolism play a central role in determining the outcome of attempted infections. Metabolomic analyses, for example between healthy, newly infected and diseased or resistant plants, have the potential to reveal perturbations to signaling or output pathways with key roles in determining the outcome of a plant–microbe interaction. However, application of this -omic and its tools in plant pathology studies is lagging relative to genomic and transcriptomic methods. Thus, it is imperative to bring the power of metabolomics to bear on the study of plant resistance/susceptibility. This review discusses metabolomics studies that link changes in primary or specialized metabolism to the defense responses of plants against bacterial, fungal, nematode, and viral pathogens. Also examined are cases where metabolomics unveils virulence mechanisms used by pathogens. Finally, how integrating metabolomics with other -omics can advance plant pathology research is discussed.

Integrated Transcriptomic and Un-Targeted Metabolomics Analysis Reveals Mulberry Fruit (Morus atropurpurea) in Response to Sclerotiniose Pathogen Ciboria shiraiana Infection

“…Jasmonic acid and salicylic acid coordinate growth and defense response upon fungal infection in poplar [24]. Jasmonic acid and terpenoids play roles in resistance against Phytophthora cinnamomic in Zea mays roots [25]. Ethylene plays a positive role in adapting mulberry to cope with the drought and salinity condition [26].…”

“…Today, numerous questions about the mechanism of pathogen infection still need to be addressed. Metabolomics is an important platform for studying stress in plant-fungal pathogen interactions [25,33]. We can qualify and quantify the metabolites of plants with biotic stress using modern analytical techniques.…”

Engineering disease resistant plants through CRISPR-Cas9 technology

“…More recently, researchers combined the metabolomics with other "omics" approaches to obtain comprehensive overview of cellular processes in a physiological context. 119 For example, metabolomics analysis of Soybean hypocotyls, mulberry fruit was performed in response to Phtyophthora sojae and Ciboria shiraiana infection, respectively 120,121 and paves the way for future research of critical metabolic determinants in plant-pathogen studies. It is expected that in the future CRISPR system coupled with other techniques (GE/omics) will emerge to create disease-resistant plant varieties that can withstand the environmental, biotic stresses and provide adequate supply of food to the society.…”

Understanding Host–Pathogen Interactions in Brassica napus in the Omics Era

“…Metabolomics in plant pathology refers to the study of host plant metabolism changes in response to pathogen infection that provides an understanding of how host–pathogen interaction, through a (de)activation of metabolites and associated signalling pathways, could lead towards a resistant or susceptible outcome for the host [ 214 ]. Metabolites associated with black rot infection in B. oleracea were identified using liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight (LC-QTOF)-based metabolite profiling, which revealed that metabolic changes in the host occurred 48 h after infection and implicated photosynthesis, alkaloids, coumarins and sphingolipids as involved during the infection process [ 215 ].…”