Cucumber xylem and phloem sap is a key link in nutrient distribution, transportation and signal transduction of cucumber plants; however, the metabolic response mechanism of cucumber xylem and phloem sap under phosphorus stress has not been clearly revealed. In this study, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) combined with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were used to analyze the metabolites in cucumber xylem and phloem sap under different phosphorus stress. A total of 22 differential metabolites were screened from xylem and phloem sap, respectively. Through the analysis of metabolic pathways of differential metabolites, four and three key metabolic pathways were screened, respectively. The results showed that compared with the normal phosphorus level, the content of most amino acids in the key metabolic pathway increased in xylem but decreased in phloem both under low and high phosphorus stress levels. The contents of sucrose and glucose in phloem glycolysis pathway showed a positive correlation with the change of phosphorus nutrient levels. The tricarboxylic acid cycle was promoted in xylem and phloem of cucumber under low and high phosphorus nutrient levels, and the contents of malic acid and citric acid increased significantly. This study provided abundant biochemical information for the metabolic response and regulation strategies of cucumber xylem and phloem under phosphorus stress, and is committed to looking for more sensitive markers to evaluate the supply level of phosphorus nutrients in cucumber.
Keywords: GC-MS; cucumber; metabonomics; phloem; phosphorus stress; xylem.