1.12.3 Tools for Plant Study
Genomics deals with the discovery of all the sequences in the entire genome of a
particular organism and since the success of the human genome project effort,
several ‘‘omic’’ disciplines have emerged, with the goal of analyzing the
components of a living organism in its entirety. Proteomics (related to the study of
protein structure and function and what every protein in the cell is doing),
epigenomics (the complete set of methylation alterations in the genome), transcriptomics (the study of the complete set of RNAs encoded by the genome of a
specific cell or organism at a specific time or under a specific set of conditions),
metabolomics (related to the study of the complete set of low molecular weight
compounds in a sample) (Dixon et al. 2006). Lipidomics and glycomics are also
included.
‘‘Omics’’ sciences offer the opportunity to increase the knowledge on the fundamental biochemical basis of the things we eat. The research fields of molecular
biology, biochemistry, plant physiology, and ecology have overlapped each other’s
boundaries as a result of the recent expansion in the interest on secondary metabolites. It has been possible to establish the variations in molecular mechanisms and
metabolism underlying the diversity and production of these compounds in plants
because they derive their synthesis from primary metabolism. The growing field of
metabolomics complements information derived from genomics, transcriptomics,
and proteomics in order to provide a systematic approach to the study of biological
systems. The origin of the enormous chemical diversity of plants
(200,000–1 million metabolites estimated can be unveiled by these studies Hall
et al. 2008). Furthermore, knowledge derived from these studies would be the basis
for future application of plants’ function to agriculture and other industries.
The metabolome represents the final omic level in a biological system. It
reflects changes in phenotype and functions. For this reason its study is as
important as gene expression throughout genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics (Putri et al. 2013). The information obtained from these sciences has the
prospective to produce a more complete picture of food composition and feed
products, in order to optimize crop trait to enhance diet and health.
The most widespread strategies for addressing the study of omic sciences involve
the use of gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC–MS), liquid
chromatography combined with MS (LC–MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR)—and capillary electrophoresis (CE)–MS which can profile the impact of
time, stress, nutritional status, and environmental perturbation on a great number of
metabolites simultaneously resulting in massive, complex datasets (Álvarez-Sánchez et al. 2010). The importance of a correct addressing of this data is fundamental
since metabolites affect food quality, food functional properties, and attributes such
as taste and aroma, which will influence consumer acceptability.
In the recent years terms such as phytochemical genomics and nutrigenomics
(Hall et al. 2008; Saito 2013) have emerged. The former investigates the genomic
basis of the synthesis and function of plant metabolites. Meanwhile, nutrigenomics
1 Strategies for Sustainable Plant Food Production
39
Genomics deals with the discovery of all the sequences in the entire genome of a
particular organism and since the success of the human genome project effort,
several ‘‘omic’’ disciplines have emerged, with the goal of analyzing the
components of a living organism in its entirety. Proteomics (related to the study of
protein structure and function and what every protein in the cell is doing),
epigenomics (the complete set of methylation alterations in the genome), transcriptomics (the study of the complete set of RNAs encoded by the genome of a
specific cell or organism at a specific time or under a specific set of conditions),
metabolomics (related to the study of the complete set of low molecular weight
compounds in a sample) (Dixon et al. 2006). Lipidomics and glycomics are also
included.
‘‘Omics’’ sciences offer the opportunity to increase the knowledge on the fundamental biochemical basis of the things we eat. The research fields of molecular
biology, biochemistry, plant physiology, and ecology have overlapped each other’s
boundaries as a result of the recent expansion in the interest on secondary metabolites. It has been possible to establish the variations in molecular mechanisms and
metabolism underlying the diversity and production of these compounds in plants
because they derive their synthesis from primary metabolism. The growing field of
metabolomics complements information derived from genomics, transcriptomics,
and proteomics in order to provide a systematic approach to the study of biological
systems. The origin of the enormous chemical diversity of plants
(200,000–1 million metabolites estimated can be unveiled by these studies Hall
et al. 2008). Furthermore, knowledge derived from these studies would be the basis
for future application of plants’ function to agriculture and other industries.
The metabolome represents the final omic level in a biological system. It
reflects changes in phenotype and functions. For this reason its study is as
important as gene expression throughout genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics (Putri et al. 2013). The information obtained from these sciences has the
prospective to produce a more complete picture of food composition and feed
products, in order to optimize crop trait to enhance diet and health.
The most widespread strategies for addressing the study of omic sciences involve
the use of gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC–MS), liquid
chromatography combined with MS (LC–MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR)—and capillary electrophoresis (CE)–MS which can profile the impact of
time, stress, nutritional status, and environmental perturbation on a great number of
metabolites simultaneously resulting in massive, complex datasets (Álvarez-Sánchez et al. 2010). The importance of a correct addressing of this data is fundamental
since metabolites affect food quality, food functional properties, and attributes such
as taste and aroma, which will influence consumer acceptability.
In the recent years terms such as phytochemical genomics and nutrigenomics
(Hall et al. 2008; Saito 2013) have emerged. The former investigates the genomic
basis of the synthesis and function of plant metabolites. Meanwhile, nutrigenomics
1 Strategies for Sustainable Plant Food Production
39