Metabolite Profiling of a Diverse Collection of Wheat Lines Using Ultraperformance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

<div><p>Genetic differences among major types of wheat are well characterized; however, little is known about how these distinctions affect the small molecule profile of the wheat seed. Ethanol/water (65% v/v) extracts of seed from 45 wheat lines representing 3 genetically distinct classes, tetraploid durum (<em>Triticum turgidum</em> subspecies <em>durum</em>) (DW) and hexaploid hard and soft bread wheat (<em>T. aestivum</em> subspecies <em>aestivum</em>) (BW) were subjected to ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-TOF-MS). Discriminant analyses distinguished DW from BW with 100% accuracy due to differences in expression of nonpolar and polar ions, with differences attributed to sterol lipids/fatty acids and phospholipids/glycerolipids, respectively. Hard versus soft BW was distinguished with 100% accuracy by polar ions, with differences attributed to heterocyclic amines and polyketides versus phospholipid ions, respectively. This work provides a foundation for identification of metabolite profiles associated with desirable agronomic and human health traits and for assessing how environmental factors impact these characteristics.</p>