Untargeted Metabolomic Investigation of Wheat Infected with Stinking Smut Tilletia caries

Abstract

Tilletia caries infection of wheat (Triticum aestivum) has become an increasing problem in organic wheat agriculture throughout the world. Little is known about how this pathogen alters host metabolism to ensure a successful infection. We investigated how T. caries allocates resources from wheat for its growth over the life cycle of the pathogen. An untargeted metabolomics approach that combined gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry and ultraperformance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry platforms was used to determine which primary or specialized metabolite pathways are targeted and altered during T. caries infection. We found that T. caries does not dramatically alter the global metabolome of wheat but instead alters key metabolites for its own nutrient uptake and to antagonize host defenses by reducing wheat’s sweet immunity response and other related pathways. Our results highlight metabolic characteristics needed for selecting wheat varieties that are resistant to T. caries infection for organic agriculture. In addition, several wheat metabolites were identified that could be used in developing a diagnostic tool for early detection of T. caries infection.

Application of Metabolomics in Fungal Research

“…In contrast, when Tilletia caries infested wheat, it did not directly change the metabolites of wheat. However, it prompted wheat to change the key metabolites and reduce the defense resistance function of wheat through pathways such as reducing the immune response to the sweet taste of wheat [ 137 ].…”