Metabolic response of soybean leaves induced by short-term exposure of ozone

The ever-increasing ozone (O₃) concentration has led to reduced production and altered quality of soybean. Abundant reports have explored the damage mechanisms of O₃ on soybean. However, how the elevated O₃ affects metabolite profiling of soybean remains to be poorly understood. Here, we compare the metabolic profile of soybean leaves under charcoal filtered air (CF, <20 ppb) and short-term elevated O₃ concentration (EO, 100 ppb). High level of O₃ affects metabolites for the tricarbonic acid (TCA) cycle, reactive oxygen species, cell wall composition and amino acids. Significantly, jasmonic acid-related metabolite promoting stomata closure is highly induced with 125-fold change. Furthermore, O₃ fumigation alters the expression of genes contributing to the biosynthesis of certain metabolites in TCA cycle. Together, these findings identify a wide range of changed metabolites in response to O₃ pollution. Our results pave the way for the genetic improvement of soybean to adapt to O₃ pollution to maintain stable yields.