Constructing the metabolic network of wheat kernels based on structure-guided chemical modification and multi-omics...

Area of Science:

• Plant biology
• Metabolomics
• Computational biology

Background:

• Metabolic network construction is crucial for understanding biological regulation.
• It is challenging, especially for non-model organisms like wheat.
• Existing databases may lack comprehensive metabolic information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a computational approach for constructing a wheat metabolic network.
• To identify novel metabolites, reactions, and candidate genes.
• To validate the constructed network through functional studies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized structure-guided chemical modification and related compounds for reaction modeling.
• Integrated gene annotation, reaction classification, and omics data (transcriptome and metabolome).
• Employed in vitro enzymatic assays and wheat mutant tests for validation.

Main Results:

• Constructed a comprehensive structure-guided metabolic network for wheat.
• Identified 625 metabolites and 333 putative reactions beyond the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database.
• Identified 229 potential genes, with validated functions for hydroxycinnamoyltransferase and rhamnosyltransferase.

Conclusions:

• Structure-guided chemical modification is effective for metabolic network construction.
• This method aids in identifying candidate genes for plant metabolomics.
• The study provides a valuable resource for wheat metabolic and genetic research.