A systematic approach to determine the impact of elevated CO2 levels on the chemical composition of wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Abstract

Two wheat genetic lines (responsive and non-responsive to elevated CO2) grown under ambient and free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE) conditions were compared using fuzzy chromatography mass spectrometry (FCMS) metabolite fingerprinting. A more comprehensive survey of the changes in their chemical composition was made on selected samples using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) metabolomic profiling with high resolution accurate mass/tandem mass spectrometry (HRAM/MSn). Principal component analysis (PCA) of the metabolite fingerprints showed four clusters for the two genetic lines (responsive and non-responsive) and the two CO2 levels (ambient and elevated) in score plots. Metabolite profiling of representative samples for each of the four clusters identified 25 and 16 compounds from negative and positive data, respectively, including amino acids, saccharides, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and lipids. Loading plots demonstrated that some saccharides and lipids were responsible for discriminating between not only two genetic lines but also two CO2 levels. Analysis of free amino acids (not bound) showed a clear pattern of reduced concentration for both lines with elevated CO2. After acid hydrolysis, the responsive line 6 (41% increase in yield) showed the same pattern observed for free amino acids, but the non-responsive line 5 (6% increase in yield) showed different trends in concentrations of amino acids with elevated CO2.