1H NMR-Based Metabolomics Methods for Chemical Genomics Experiments

Metabolomics and chemical genomics studies can each provide unique insights into plant biology. Although a variety of analytical techniques can be used for the interrogation of plant systems, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) provides unbiased characterization of abundant metabolites. An example methodology is provided for probing the metabolism of Arabidopsis thaliana in a chemical genomics experiment including methods for tissue treatment, tissue collection, metabolite extraction, and methods to minimize variance in biological and technical sample replicates. Additionally, considerations and methods for data analysis, including multivariate statistics, univariate statistics, and data interpretation are included. The process is illustrated by examining the metabolic effects of chemical treatment of Arabidopsis with Sortin 1, also known as vacuolar protein sort ing in hibitor 1. Sortin 1 was applied to Arabidopsis seedlings to examine metabolic effects in a chemical genomics experiment and to demonstrate the utility of metabolomics in conjunction with other “omics” techniques.