Abstract
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is an important dietary source which contains numerous bioactive phytochemicals. Active breeding programs constantly produce new cultivars possessing superior and desirable traits. However, the underlying molecular signatures that functionally describe these traits are yet to be elucidated. Thus, in this study we used an untargeted metabolomic approach to describe differential metabolic profiles of four cultivars described as having high to intermediate resistance to Ralstonia solanacearum. Metabolites were methanol-extracted from leaves, stems and root tissues and analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with high definition mass spectrometry. Multivariate data analysis revealed cultivar-related differential metabolic phenotypes. A total of 41 metabolites were statistically selected and annotated, consisting of amino acids, organic acids, lipids, derivatives of cinnamic acid and benzoic acids, flavonoids and steroidal glycoalkaloids which were especially prominent in the two highly resistant cultivars. Interestingly, the less resistant cultivars had various fatty acid derivatives in root extracts that contributed to the differentiated metabolic signatures. Moreover, the metabolic phenotype of the STAR9008 (8SC) cultivar with intermediate resistance, was characterized by derivatives of cinnamic acids and flavonoids but at lower levels compared to the resistant cultivars. The 8SC cultivar also exhibited a lack of hydroxybenzoic acid biomarkers, which may be attributed to its lower resistance. These metabolic phenotypes provide insights into the differential metabolic signatures underlying the metabolism of these four cultivars, defining their respective phenotypic traits such as their resistance, tolerance or susceptibility to Ralstonia solanacearum.
Highlights
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the world’s most valuable agricultural commodities, accounting for approximately 14% of the world’s annual vegetable production [1,2,3]
Extracts prepared from roots, stems and leaves of the four tomato cultivars were analyzed on an Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) with a quadrupole time-of-flight MS system as detector
The low levels of hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA)-derivatives synthesized in 8SC tissues may be linked with its decreased resistance towards R. solanacearum. These findings suggest that the 8SC cultivar displays phenotypic traits of both resistant and intermediate cultivar lines, with an abundance of Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and flavonoid biomarkers typically associated with resistant cultivars and a decreased presence of HBA-derivatives
Summary
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the world’s most valuable agricultural commodities, accounting for approximately 14% of the world’s annual vegetable production [1,2,3]. Crop improvement programs have mainly focused on the selection and breeding of tomato cultivars with superior traits such as high crop yield, product uniformity, agronomic and technological attributes as well as natural resistance against various abiotic and biotic stresses [2,9,10,11]. While susceptible cultivars can be eliminated in breeding programs, resistant phenotypes based on multigenic traits are more difficult to evaluate, especially if individual cultivars perform differentially under different environmental conditions and in different locations. These traits can be studied using genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic platforms to identify genes and their products conferring pathogen resistance [12]. These technologies have the drawback that variations in the transcriptome or proteome do not always provide an accurate correlation to the phenotype of the crop under study [13,14]
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