title: Relative mass defect filtering of mass spectra: a path to discovery of plant specialized metabolites.
abstract: The rapid identification of novel plant metabolites and assignments of newly discovered substances to natural product classes present the main bottlenecks to defining plant specialized phenotypes. Although mass spectrometry provides powerful support for metabolite discovery by measuring molecular masses, ambiguities in elemental formulas often fail to reveal the biosynthetic origins of specialized metabolites detected using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. A promising approach for mining liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolite profiling data for specific metabolite classes is achieved by calculating relative mass defects (RMDs) from molecular and fragment ions. This strategy enabled the rapid recognition of an extensive range of terpenoid metabolites in complex plant tissue extracts and is independent of retention time, abundance, and elemental formula. Using RMD filtering and tandem mass spectrometry data analysis, 24 novel elemental formulas corresponding to glycosylated sesquiterpenoid metabolites were identified in extracts of the wild tomato Solanum habrochaites LA1777 trichomes. Extensive isomerism was revealed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography, leading to evidence of more than 200 distinct sesquiterpenoid metabolites. RMD filtering led to the recognition of the presence of glycosides of two unusual sesquiterpenoid cores that bear limited similarity to known sesquiterpenes in the genus Solanum. In addition, RMD filtering is readily applied to existing metabolomics databases and correctly classified the annotated terpenoid metabolites in the public metabolome database for Catharanthus roseus.
authors: Department of Chemistry (E.A.P.E., A.D.J.) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (M.D.C., A.D.J.), Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824.
authors: E A Prabodha
authors: EA
authors: Ekanayaka
authors: Department of Chemistry (E.A.P.E., A.D.J.) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (M.D.C., A.D.J.), Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824.
authors: Mary Dawn
authors: MD
authors: Celiz
authors: Department of Chemistry (E.A.P.E., A.D.J.) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (M.D.C., A.D.J.), Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824 jonesar4@msu.edu.
authors: A Daniel
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7408-6690
authors: AD
authors: Jones
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D006027:Glycosides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D055442:Metabolome; D055432:Metabolomics; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012984:Software; D032322:Solanum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D013729:Terpenes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D064201:Trichomes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006027:Glycosides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; D013729:Terpenes