Nuclear magnetic resonance and plant metabolic engineering

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can be used to measure metabolite levels and metabolic fluxes, to probe the intracellular environment, and to follow transport and energetics nondestructively. NMR methods are therefore powerful aids to understanding plant metabolism and physiology. Both spectroscopy and imaging can help overcome the unique challenges that plants present to the metabolic engineer by detecting, identifying, quantifying, and localizing novel metabolites in vivo and in extracts; revealing the composition and physical state of cell wall and other polymers; allowing the identification of active pathways; providing quantitative measures of metabolic flux; and testing hypotheses about the effects of engineered traits on plant physiological function. The aim of this review is to highlight recent studies in which NMR has contributed to metabolic engineering of plants and to illustrate the unique characteristics of NMR measurements that give it the potential to make greater contributions in the future.