Metabolite profiling of a diverse collection of wheat lines using ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Shawna B Matthews; Meenakshi Santra; Meghan M Mensack; Pamela Wolfe; Patrick F Byrne; Henry J Thompson

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044179

Metabolite profiling of a diverse collection of wheat lines using ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry

PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e44179. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044179. Epub 2012 Aug 30.

Authors

Shawna B Matthews¹, Meenakshi Santra, Meghan M Mensack, Pamela Wolfe, Patrick F Byrne, Henry J Thompson

Affiliation

¹ Cancer Prevention Laboratory and Department of Horticulture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America.

Abstract

Genetic differences among major types of wheat are well characterized; however, little is known about how these distinctions affect the small molecule profile of the wheat seed. Ethanol/water (65% v/v) extracts of seed from 45 wheat lines representing 3 genetically distinct classes, tetraploid durum (Triticum turgidum subspecies durum) (DW) and hexaploid hard and soft bread wheat (T. aestivum subspecies aestivum) (BW) were subjected to ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF-MS). Discriminant analyses distinguished DW from BW with 100% accuracy due to differences in expression of nonpolar and polar ions, with differences attributed to sterol lipids/fatty acids and phospholipids/glycerolipids, respectively. Hard versus soft BW was distinguished with 100% accuracy by polar ions, with differences attributed to heterocyclic amines and polyketides versus phospholipid ions, respectively. This work provides a foundation for identification of metabolite profiles associated with desirable agronomic and human health traits and for assessing how environmental factors impact these characteristics.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chromatography, Gel
Chromatography, Reverse-Phase
Cluster Analysis
Discriminant Analysis
Metabolome*
Principal Component Analysis
Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization*
Triticum / classification
Triticum / metabolism*

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by a grant from the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee and Colorado Wheat Research Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.