Metabolomics

The implementation of a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) based standardized metabolomics platform for the study of the interaction between Fusarium and plants will be continued. The powerful approach of in vivo stable isotopic labeling (SIL) assisted metabolomics, which has already been implemented in the first funding period of the SFB, shall be further improved and extended to plants. SIL will be applied to Fusarium as well as extended to Brachypodium and wheat with the aim to globally characterize the respective metabolomes. In order to identify plant metabolites correlated with resistance QTLs in wheat, a set of Fusarium- and mock-treated NILs will be prepared by F3711 and analyzed for volatiles and primary metabolites by GC-MS as well as our LC-HRMS based non-targeted approach. Metabolomics results will be correlated with differentially expressed transcripts to identify QTL associated defense responses (F3711). Moreover, biotransformation products of resistance related metabolites such as fungal effector molecules (auxin, mycotoxins) and plant metabolites (e.g. polyamines, polyphenols) will be studied in microorganisms and plants (F3702, F3703, F3707, F3708 and F3711).