Background: Oxygen deprivation causes different adaptive reactions in plant organisms. One of that is the growth acceleration of axial organs to escape unfavorable conditions. Rice coleoptiles are often in use for the investigation of elongation growth under submergence.
The aim of present study is to distinguish the metabolic processes accompanying coleoptile elongation under normoxia and hypoxia.
Materials & Methods: GS-MS-based metabolic profiling was employed to identify metabolic alterations. Parameters were tested in coleoptiles of slow- and fast-growing rice varieties at 3
time points (3, 5 and 7 days after sowing) corresponding to the initiation, acceleration and arrest of elongation.
Results: Rice coleoptiles of the fast-growing cultivar accumulated higher amounts of sugar phosphates, disaccharides, fatty acid derivatives and sterols, which are important for maintaining growth, membrane stability and viability. The slow-growing variety was characterized by a greater abundance of carboxylates, including lactate and phosphoric acid, indicating an energy crisis and cytosol acidification, leading to cell damage and low tolerance.
Conclusion: A metabolomics approach is suitable for phenotyping (chemotyping) of newly developed rice varieties with higher tolerance to oxygen deprivation.