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Journal article
Natural variation of the wheat root exudate metabolome and its influence on biological nitrification inhibition activity
Plant biotechnology journal, Early View
2025
PMID: 40692297
Abstract
Excessive nitrogen use and low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in current agroecosystems are disrupting the global nitrogen cycle. Chemical inhibitors offer only temporary relief, while plant‐derived biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) remain safer but underexplored. Identifying biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) traits in nitrogen‐demanding crops like wheat is key to improving sustainability. In this study, a combined GC‐ and LC–MS platform was used to determine the metabolome of the root exudates of 44 diverse wheat genotypes originating from India and Austria. With more than 6000 metabolic features, a pronounced genotype‐specific variation, a clear geographic pattern and an unexpected complexity of the root exudate metabolome were observed. A novel high‐throughput assay utilizing diverse ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) was developed for rapid BNI testing, highlighting distinct inhibition and even growth stimulation capacities between genotypes. Network analysis and advanced machine and deep learning analysis identified combinations of 32 metabolites linked to high BNI activity, including phenylpropanoids sinapinic acid, syringic acid and others, as well as glycosylated flavones isoschaftoside and others. This indicates that the concurrent presence of specific metabolites, rather than a single compound, drives nitrification inhibition in the rhizosphere. Variation in BNI activity among wheat genotypes, classified as either spring or winter types, suggests that root architecture modulates the dynamics of root exudation and the potential for nitrification inhibition. The unique combination of high‐throughput metabolomics analysis and the BNI fast‐track assay allows for screening of large germplasm collections as an essential requirement to introduce BNI and related NUE traits into modern breeding programmes.
Details
- Title
- Natural variation of the wheat root exudate metabolome and its influence on biological nitrification inhibition activity
- Authors/Creators
- Arindam Ghatak - University of ViennaAlexandros E. Kanellopoulos - University of ThessalyCristina López-Hidalgo - University of ViennaAndrea Malits - University of ViennaYuhang Meng - University of ViennaFlorian Schindler - University of ViennaShuang Zhang - University of ViennaJiahang Li - University of ViennaSteffen Waldherr - University of ViennaHugo Ribeiro - University of ThessalyMelina Kerou - University of ViennaLogan H. Hodgskiss - University of ViennaMaximilian Dreer - University of ViennaReyazul Rouf Mir - Division of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture (FoA) SKUAST‐Kashmir Srinagar India, Centre for Crop and Food Innovation (CCFI) Murdoch University Murdoch Western Australia AustraliaSandeep Sharma - Indian Agricultural Research InstituteGert Bachmann - University of ViennaDimitrios G. Karpouzas - University of ThessalyChrista Schleper - University of ViennaEvangelia S. Papadopoulou - University of ThessalyPalak Chaturvedi - University of ViennaWolfram Weckwerth - University of Vienna
- Publication Details
- Plant biotechnology journal, Early View
- Publisher
- Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Identifiers
- 991005796261107891
- Copyright
- © 2025 The Author(s).
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Crop and Food Innovation
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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