Unraveling Metabolic Profile of Wheat Plants Subjected to Different Phosphate Regimes

Wheat is a highly demanding crop in terms of fertilization. The addition of fertilizers has become a common practice to combat phosphate scarcity in agriculture. However, in the future, food requirements for the increasing global population need to be addressed using less resources and avoiding nutrient losses. Therefore, it is mandatory to better understand the metabolic adaptions acquired by wheat plants to face Pi scarcity, to improve Pi use efficiency, and specially to understand how these responses can vary between different Pi regimes. Here, we treated wheat plants with three different doses of Pi (severe Pi deficiency, moderate Pi deficiency, and Pi sufficiency) and analyzed their metabolomic profile with UPLC-MS/MS (ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry). Relevant differences were identified between different Pi conditions and between shoots and roots when comparing different Pi status. The main differences observed between moderate and severe Pi deficiency, either in shoots or in roots, corresponded to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism. On the contrary, in both Pi-deficiency regimes, secondary metabolism was more affected in roots compared to shoots. We also detected several metabolites highly sensitive to Pi deficiency (e.g., dephospho-CoA, glycerylphosphorylcholine, and raffinose). Collectively, our findings give new insights into the metabolomic pathways and metabolites most sensitive to Pi deficiency in wheat, providing further knowledge to be able to better handle future Pi scenarios.

Automated summary

Wheat plants were treated with three different levels of phosphate deficiency to study the metabolic adaptations and differences in metabolites. It was found that carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism were more affected in shoots, while secondary metabolism was more affected in roots in both types of phosphate deficiency. Several metabolites highly sensitive to phosphate deficiency were also identified. These findings provide new insights into wheat's metabolic pathways under phosphate deficiency and contribute to better handling of future phosphate scenarios.