title: Effects of heat-treatment on the stability and composition of metabolomic extracts from the earthwormEisenia fetida.
abstract: Environmental metabolomics studies employing earthworms as sentinels for soil contamination are numerous, but the instability of the metabolite extracts from these organisms has been minimally addressed. This study evaluated the efficacy of adding a heat-treatment step in two commonly used extraction protocols (Bligh and Dyer and D2O phosphate buffer) as a pre-analytical stabilization method. The resulting metabolic profiles ofEisenia fetidawere assessed using principal component analysis and NMR spectral evaluations. The heated Bligh and Dyer extractions produced stabilized profiles with minimal variation of the extracted metabolomic profiles over time, providing a more suitable method for metabolomic analysis of earthworm extracts.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences Division, Hollings Marine Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Charleston, SC 29412 USA.
authors.forename: Tracey B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Schock
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Converse College, Spartanburg, SC 29302 USA.
authors.forename: Sheri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Strickland
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, Converse College, Spartanburg, SC 29302 USA.
authors.forename: Edna J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences Division, Hollings Marine Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Charleston, SC 29412 USA.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Bearden
keywords: Earthworm; Eisenia fetida; Heat stabilization; Metabolomics; NMR; Stability; Tissue extraction