LC-MS profiling to link metabolic and phenotypic diversity in plant mapping populations

Numerous studies have revealed the extent of genetic, phenotypic, and metabolic variation between different plant cultivars/varieties. We present a specialized protocol for large-scale targeted and untargeted metabolite profiling for samples from large plant mapping populations using both reversed-phase and aqueous normal-phase LC-MS. This methodology provides a fast and combined targeted/nontargeted workflow as a powerful tool to discriminate related plant phenotypes and describes methods to combine mass features and agronomic traits to link phenotypic to metabolic traits independent of putative metabolite identities. This easily reproducible analytical strategy, in combination with a sophisticated data processing and analysis workflow, can be applicable to a wide range of plant mapping populations.