Abstract
Plant secondary metabolites accumulate through complex chemical modification steps after the biosyntheses of aglycon structures. Those modification processes are finely regulated at the levels of gene expression and biochemical regulation of enzyme proteins. Global metabolic profiling studies unquestionably shed light on the metabolic dynamism comprised of the activities of biosynthesis, accumulation, and hydrolytic release of active moieties from accumulated forms. Such metabolomics information could provide understanding of the biological and physiological significance of diverse secondary metabolisms.
In this study, we developed a quantitative metabolic profiling platform based on mass spectral analyses using GC-MS, LC-ESI-MS, and FT-ICR/MS. As one of typical crops modified to confer desired traits by genetic engineering, we studied a metabolic profiling scheme of potato tuber extracts. In this platform, we studied the accumulation of different glycosylated forms of steroidal alkaloids synthesized from the aglycone through glycosylation reactions, and a total of 78 compounds from primary metabolisms including sugars, amino acids, and nucleic acids were monitored as well.
