Article Metabolite Profiling of Diverse Rice Germplasm and Identification of Conserved Metabolic Markers of Rice Roots in Response to Long-Term Mild Salinity Stress

Abstract: The sensitivity of rice to salt stress greatly depends on growth stages, organ types and cultivars. Especially, the roots of young rice seedlings are highly salt-sensitive organs that limit plant growth, even under mild soil salinity conditions. In an attempt to identify metabolic markers of rice roots responding to salt stress, metabolite profiling was performed by 1H-NMR spectroscopy in 38 rice genotypes that varied in biomass accumulation under long-term mild salinity condition. Multivariate statistical analysis showed separation OPEN ACCESS Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2015, 16 21960 of the control and salt-treated rice roots and rice genotypes with differential growth potential. By quantitative analyses of 1H-NMR data, five conserved salt-responsive metaboli