Metabolomics of Disease Resistance in Crops

Abstract

Plants are continuously exposed to the attack of invasive microorganisms, such as fungi or bacteria, and also viruses. To fight these attackers, plants develop different metabolic and genetic responses whose final outcome is the production of toxic compounds that kill the pathogen or deter its growth or semiotic molecules that alert other individuals of the same plant species. These molecules are derived from the secondary metabolism and their production is induced upon detection of a pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP). These PAMPs are different molecules that are perceived by the host cell triggering defense responses. PAMP-elicited compounds are highly diverse and specific of every plant species and can be divided into preformed metabolites or phytoanticipins that are converted into toxic molecules upon pathogen perception, and toxic metabolites or phytoalexins that are produced only upon pathogen attack. Moreover, plant volatile emissions are also modified in response to pathogen attack to alert neighboring individuals or to make plants less attractive to pathogen vector arthropods. Plant metabolite profiling techniques have allowed the identification of novel antimicrobial molecules that are induced upon elicitation. However, more studies are required to assess the specific function of metabolites or metabolite blends on plant-microbe interactions.

Metabolomics‐driven investigation of plant defense response against pest and pathogen attack

“…An increase in GABA and proline was observed in Epipactis species upon infection with albino fungi (Lallemand et al 2019). Phytoanticipins are defense molecules released post-pathogen infection into their toxic forms, while phytoalexins are synthesised during direct interaction under pathogen infection (Pedras et al 2008, Arbona andGomez Cadenas, 2016);…”

“…An increase in GABA and proline was observed in Epipactis species upon infection with albino fungi (Lallemand et al 2019). Phytoanticipins are defense molecules released post‐pathogen infection into their toxic forms, while phytoalexins are synthesised during direct interaction under pathogen infection (Pedras et al 2008, Arbona and Gomez Cadenas, 2016); indole glucosinates and camalexins are such defense compounds (Schlaeppi et al 2010; Buxdorf et al 2013). Both of these molecules act as a catalyst in Arabidopsis and initiate the defense system against Phytophthora brassicae (Schlaeppi et al 2010).…”

Disease diagnostic strategies and emerging analytical metabolomics techniques for waterborne microbial pathogens in vegetable crops—A critical review

“…Reported investigations carried out in tomato indicated the involvement of the ketone benzoxazinones (BX) in resistance against the pathogenic fungus Setophaeria turcica (Arbona & Gómez-Cadenas, 2016). Currently, vegetable crops are also known to produce numerous specialized metabolites like benzoxazinoids (Garcia-Mier et al, 2019) in response to nematodes and pest herbivores and flavonoids such as C-glycosyl flavones, which are known as an active protectant against worms (Yan et al, 2017) and against…”

“…Table 4 shows that among vegetable crops, the highest number of specialized metabolites belong to the phenylpropanoid, flavonoid, alkaloid and terpenoid metabolic products (Ding et al, 2018; M. Li et al, 2020; Lobo et al, 2018; Lu et al, 2019; Rajput et al, 2019). Reported investigations carried out in tomato indicated the involvement of the ketone benzoxazinones (BX) in resistance against the pathogenic fungus Setophaeria turcica (Arbona & Gómez‐Cadenas, 2016). Currently, vegetable crops are also known to produce numerous specialized metabolites like benzoxazinoids (Garcia‐Mier et al, 2019) in response to nematodes and pest herbivores and flavonoids such as C‐glycosyl flavones, which are known as an active protectant against worms (Yan et al, 2017) and against Pratylenchus and Heterodera , which are nematodes prevalent in fruits and vegetable crops (Hol et al, 2013; Jones & Fosu‐Nyarko, 2014).…”

Table_2.XLSX

“…Besides this, the Fhb7 gene has been studied and cloned, which provides a bright prospect for the development of wheat head blight resistance (He et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2020). In the interaction between wheat and F. graminearum (Dweba et al, 2017), plants use complex chemical defense mechanisms involved in metabolic adaptations (Feussner and Polle, 2015;Arbona and Gomez-Cadenas, 2016). Advances in analytical chemistry and high-throughput sequencing were used to acquire extensive metabolic profiles during plant-pathogen (Beccari et al, 2019;Chen et al, 2019).…”