Metabolic diversity and seasonal variation of soil microbial communities in natural forested wetlands

This study explores the effects of vegetation and season on soil microorganisms and enzymatic activity of different wetlands in a temperate climate.Microbial carbon metabolism diversity was assessed using community-level physiological profiles(CLPP)with 31 different carbon substrates.CLPP indicated that significant interactions occur during carbon substrate metabolism of the microorganisms.Furthermore,the different types of vegetation present in the wetland ecosystem combined with the seasonal effects to influence microbial carbon metabolism and enzymatic activity.The most significant differences occurred to carbohydrates,carboxylic acids,and amino acids.The Mantel test confirmed positive correlations between soil enzymatic activities and microbial carbon metabolism.Soil microorganisms in Betula ovalifolia and Carex schmidtii wetlands used carbon substrates more efficiently in summer than those in other forested wetlands during other periods.Enzymatic activities also showed a similar trend as microbial carbon metabolism.The results demonstrate that microbial carbon metabolism patterns can be used as biological indicators in wetland ecological alterations due to vegetation type or to seasonal factors.

Unlocking plant metabolic diversity: A (pan)- genomic view

Plants produce a remarkable diversity of structurally and functionally diverse natural chemicals that serve as adaptive compounds throughout their life cycles.However,unlocking this metabolic diversity is significantly impeded by the size,complexity,and abundant repetitive elements of typical plant genomes.As genome sequencing becomes routine,we anticipate that links between metabolic diversity and genetic variation will be strengthened.In addition,an ever-increasing number of plant genomes have revealed that biosynthetic gene clusters are not only a hallmark of microbes and fungi;gene clusters for various classes of compounds have also been found in plants,and many are associated with important agronomic traits.We present recent examples of plant metabolic diversification that have been discovered through the exploration and exploitation of various genomic and pan-genomic data.We also draw attention to the fundamental genomic and pan-genomic basis of plant chemodiversity and discuss challenges and future perspectives for investigating metabolic diversity in the coming pan-genomics era.

Population analysis reveals the roles of DNA methylation in tomato domestication and metabolic diversity

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic marker,yet its diversity and consequences in tomato breeding at the population level are largely unknown.We performed whole-genome bisulfite sequencing(WGBS),RNA sequencing,and metabolic profiling on a population comprising wild tomatoes,landraces,and cultivars.A total of 8,375 differentially methylated regions(DMRs)were identified,with methylation levels progressively decreasing from domestication to improvement.We found that over 20%of DMRs overlapped with selective sweeps.Moreover,more than 80%of DMRs in tomato were not significantly associated with single-nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs),and DMRs had strong linkages with adjacent SNPs.We additionally profiled 339 metabolites from 364 diverse accessions and further performed a metabolic association study based on SNPs and DMRs.We detected 971 and 711 large-effect loci via SNP and DMR markers,respectively.Combined with multi-omics,we identified 13 candidate genes and updated the polyphenol biosynthetic pathway.Our results showed that DNA methylation variants could complement SNP profiling of metabolite diversity.Our study thus provides a DNA methylome map across diverse accessions and suggests that DNA methylation variation can be the genetic basis of metabolic diversity in plants.

A widely targeted metabolite modificomics strategy for modified metabolites identification in tomato

The structural and functional diversity of plant metabolites is largely created via chemical modification of a basic backbone.However,metabolite modifications in plants have still not been thoroughly investigated by metabolomics approaches.In this study,a widely targeted metabolite modificomics(WTMM)strategy was developed based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-linear ion trap(UHPLC-Q-Trap)and UHPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap(UHPLC-QE-Orbitrap),which greatly improved the detection sensitivity and the efficiency of identification of modified metabolites.A metabolite modificomics study was carried out using tomato as a model,and over 34,000 signals with MS2 information were obtained from approximately 232 neutral loss transitions.Unbiased metabolite profiling was also performed by utilizing high-resolution mass spectrometry data to annotate a total of 2,118 metabolites with 125 modification types;of these,165 modified metabolites were identified in this study.Next,the WTMM database was used to assess diseased tomato tissues and 29 biomarkers were analyzed.In summary,the WTMM strategy is not only capable of large-scale detection and quantitative analysis of plant-modified metabolites in plants,but also can be used for plant biomarker development.