ABSTRACT
The term “metabolome” was created by analogy to transcriptome and proteome. Metabolomics denotes comprehensive, nonbiased, high-throughput analyses of the complex metabolite mixtures typical of plant extracts. The challenges of metabolomics are, first, how to measure the maximum number of these chemicals simultaneously, and second, how to make sense of the vast datasets that are generated by such measurements. Sampling has to be fast, involving efficient and rapid quenching of metabolism in order to block immediately any biochemical reaction and obtain a snapshot of the biochemical status. Rapid quenching can also be achieved by acid treatments, but this type of treatment poses severe problems for many of the analytical methods to be used subsequently. Metabolomics will not only assist in the establishment of a deeper understanding of the complex interactive nature of plant metabolic networks but will also provide unique insights into the fundamental nature of plant phenotypes in relation to development, physiology, tissue identity, resistance and biodiversity.
