Potential of Metabolomics in Plant Abiotic Stress Management

Metabolomics reveals the metabolite profile of biological systems, its various chemical compositions, its physiology, and complexity at a point in time. Metabolites are the main working horses to drive for any phenotype as compared to their corresponding DNA or RNA component by itself alone. This omics tool integrated with mass spectrometric analysis can be applied to study the molecular responses in plants against biotic and abiotic stresses. Changes in the flux of both primary and secondary metabolites are observed against several stress conditions. The tools of metabolomics help the scientists to understand the core-metabolite profile conferring stress-resistance in plants and to develop core-metabolite profile in any crop species for resilience against climate change and various biotic and abiotic stresses. Several key metabolites may play roles against multiple stress-resistance mechanisms in plants. Integration of multi-omics and meta-omics studies may reveal a globalized overview of biochemical, physiological, and molecular processes of stress response in plants. It will help in the studies for the improvement of quality and yield as well as development of stress-resistance in commercially important crops.