The ability of plants to survive oxygen deficiency is associated with significant changes in metabolism. Metabolic profiling of wheat seedlings under anoxia and subsequent reoxygenation conditions was performed using GC-MS. A total of 374 and 298 compounds were detected in root and shoot metabolomes, respectively. All intermediates of central metabolism were identified. Early anoxic responses of root and shoot metabolomes showed similarity, leading to the accumulation of amino acids (Ala, GABA and Tyr), carboxylates (lactate and succinate), nucleotides and amines, together with a decrease in sugars. The metabolic response to long-term anoxia varied significantly in the roots and shoots of wheat seedlings and was related to the redistribution of carbon flux from glycolysis predominantly to lipids in the roots, while it was directed to carboxylates and GABA in the shoots. Imposition of 24 h of reaeration after short-term anoxia (6 h) switched the metabolome toward a normoxic profile, predominantly in roots. Anaerobically down-regulated metabolites were accumulated, while anaerobic intermediates were depleted post-anoxia. The effects of more prolonged anoxia on wheat seedling metabolomes were less reversible, particularly in shoots. Interestingly, several metabolites with not fully understood roles (e.g., hydroxyl carboxylates, α,ω-dicarboxylic acids, polyols) were detected under anoxic conditions in wheat seedlings, which could potentially serve as markers of plant sensitivity to oxygen deficiency. © 2025 by the authors.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume26
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - 2025

    Research areas

  • adaptation, anoxia, hydroxyl carboxylic acids, metabolomics, reoxygenation, tolerance, Triticum aestivum, 1,3 propanediamine, 2 hydroxyglutaric acid, 2,3 butanediol, 3 hydroxybutyric acid, 4 hydroxybutyric acid, acid, aconitic acid, acylglycerol, adenine, adenosine, allantoin, ascorbic acid, butyric acid, carbohydrate, carboxylic acid, dicarboxylic acid, fatty acid, fatty acid derivative, fructose 6 phosphate, fumaric acid, gluconic acid, glucose 6 phosphate, glyceric acid, glycerol, glyoxylic acid, guanine, hexose, hydracrylic acid, inositol, inositol phosphate, lactic acid, malic acid, nitrogen, nucleotide, oligosaccharide, ornithine, oxygen, pentose, polyol, propionic acid, pyruvic acid, shikimic acid, starch, succinic acid, sucrose, terpenoid, thymine, uracil, urate, uridine, xanthine, aeration, Article, citric acid cycle, comparative study, controlled study, dynamics, hypoxia, metabolic fingerprinting, metabolite set enrichment analysis, metabolome, nucleotide metabolism, plant root, seedling, shoot, steroid metabolism, wheat, mass fragmentography, metabolism, procedures, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Metabolome, Metabolomics, Oxygen, Plant Roots, Plant Shoots, Seedlings, Triticum

ID: 147995724