2019
Metabolomics of Drought-Tolerant Soybean Cultivars
Category:
Sustainable Production
Keywords:
Abiotic stressAgricultureLand Use Water supply
Parent Project:
This is the first year of this project.
Lead Principal Investigator:
Troy Wood , Research Foundation for SUNY on behalf of University at Buffalo
Co-Principal Investigators:
Project Code:
SYBN 19 002
Brief Project Summary:

Metabolomics, the study and analysis of metabolic products and their intermediates produced by a cell, tissue, or organism, is used to determine how an abiotic stress impacts that actual chemical composition of a plant.1 The number of chemical metabolites in an organism is far smaller than the number of proteins or genes, and many metabolites are characteristic of multiple biochemical pathways. Metabolomics studies of plants in a non-targeted approach allows scientists to observe how a plant responds to an environmentally-induced stress. Two different analytical instrument platforms have emerged to probe the chemical fingerprints found within the metabolome: nuclear magnetic resonance...

Unique Keywords:
#environmental stress, #metabolomics, abiotic, drought, mass spectrometry, ms/ms, electrospray ionization, pathways
Information And Results
Project Deliverables

The project expects two key publications. The first is a report on which are the key metabolic products of soybeans that might confer drought tolerance or drought susceptibility, using leaf extracts from two soybean cultivars that have been designed to express drought tolerance or drought susceptibility. We anticipate generating a library of metabolic chemical compounds in this stage whose amounts are driven by water availability. The second is a report based on the first. With key metabolites identified in the first report, we will use the generated list to find correlations between the candidate metabolites identified and their roles in various metabolic pathways, which could lead to insights into how soybeans adapt to drought. Such information will be critical in the development of additional soybean cultivars that have a phenotype for drought-tolerance and thereby greater yields during drought conditions.

Final Project Results

Updated October 31, 2020:

View uploaded report PDF file

Over 150 metabolites in control and drought-stressed soybean leaves were catalogued in a drought-tolerant strain of soybeans. This library will be used to identify the specific molecular components, and a systems biology network analysis based on the library will enable identification of specific pathways that drought-tolerant cultivars use to adapt to drought stress. This will lead to further tailoring of plant phenotype for cultivars that are drought-resistant, yet high-yield, in regions where drought is a serious threat.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.