An Arabidopsis lipid map reveals differences between tissues and dynamic changes throughout development

Abstract

Mass spectrometry is the predominant analytical tool used in the field of plant lipidomics. However, there are many challenges associated with the mass spectrometric detection and identification of lipids because of the highly complex nature of plant lipids. Studies into lipid biosynthetic pathways, gene functions in lipid metabolism, lipid changes during plant growth and development, and the holistic examination of the role of plant lipids in environmental stress responses are often hindered. Here, we leveraged a robust pipeline that we previously established to extract and analyze lipid profiles of different tissues and developmental stages from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We analyzed seven tissues at several different developmental stages and identified more than 200 lipids from each tissue analyzed. The data were used to create a webaccessible in silico lipid map that has been integrated into an electronic Fluorescent Pictograph (eFP) browser. This in silico library of Arabidopsis lipids allows the visualization and exploration of the distribution and changes of lipid levels across selected developmental stages. Furthermore, it provides information on the characteristic fragments of lipids and adducts observed in the mass spectrometer and their retention times, which can be used for lipid identification. The Arabidopsis tissue lipid map can be accessed at http:// bar.utoronto.ca/efp_arabidopsis_lipid/cgi-bin/efpWeb.cgi.

Complex Changes in Membrane Lipids Associated with the Modification of Autophagy in Arabidopsis

“…Modern advances in mass spectrometry have made it possible to quantitatively profile acyl lipids, and have thus improved our understanding of lipid metabolism in plants [40,[63][64][65][66][67][68]. MS lipid profiling has mostly been performed through the extraction of pulverized tissue, yet it has recently been shown that lipids undergo dynamic spatial changes in plant tissues during development [69]. Therefore, we used MALDI-MS to image lipids in situ and assess the effect of autophagy and N-treatment on spatial lipid localization across the leaf in Arabidopsis.…”

Arabidopsis bioinformatics: tools and strategies

“…In summary, it is clear that there is an enormous volume of data available to Arabidopsis researchers, and that by accessing these data with the tools described in this review, and others, insights can be garnered that will help with elucidating the role of a gene or set of genes in question. Keep an eye out for new data sets and tools: a new Arabidopsis Lipid Map has just been published (Kehelpannala et al., 2021). As in many areas of human endeavor, change is the only constant!…”

Diversity in sphingolipid metabolism across land plants

“…Analysis of all sphingolipids was carried out and integrated to allow quantitative comparisons between classes. This work has since been expanded by the analysis of different organs and developmental stages ( Luttgeharm et al , 2015 ; Kehelpannala et al , 2021 ), and by numerous mutant studies. While the primary focus in Markham et al (2006) was A. thaliana , complementary profiling of Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) and Glycine max (soybean) provided an impression of the chemical diversity present within the dicot lineage (discussed in the following section).…”