NMR and HPLC-UV Profiling of Potatoes with Genetic Modifications to Metabolic Pathways

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 2004-10, Vol.52 (20), p.6075-6085
• Main Authors: Defernez, Marianne, Gunning, Yvonne M, Parr, Adrian J, Shepherd, Louise V. T, Davies, Howard V, Colquhoun, Ian J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Biological and medical sciences; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; food analysis; food composition; Food industries; Fruit and vegetable industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetically modified foods; high performance liquid chromatography; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; metabolites; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Phenols - metabolism; Plant Roots - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Polyamines - metabolism; potatoes; Principal Component Analysis; Solanum tuberosum; Solanum tuberosum - genetics; Solanum tuberosum - metabolism
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf049522e

Metabolite profiling has been carried out to assess the compositional changes occurring in potato tubers after genetic modifications have been made to different metabolic pathways. Most major features in the 1H NMR and HPLC-UV profiles of tuber extracts have been assigned. About 40 GM lines and controls belonging to 4 groups of samples (derived from cv. Record or cv. Desirée and modified in primary carbon metabolism, starch synthesis, glycoprotein processing, or polyamine/ethylene metabolism) were analyzed. Differences were assessed at the level of whole profiles (by PCA) or individual compounds (by ANOVA). The most obvious differences seen in both NMR and HPLC-UV profiles were between the two varieties. There were also significant differences between two of the four Desirée GM lines with modified polyamine metabolism and their controls. Compounds notably affected were proline, trigonelline, and numerous phenolics. However, that modification gave rise to a very abnormal phenotype. Certain lines from the other groups had several compounds present in significantly higher or lower amounts compared to the control, but the differences in mean values amounted to no more than a 2−3-fold change:  in the context of variability in the whole data set, such changes did not appear to be important. Keywords: Solanum tuberosum L.; potato; metabolite profiling; metabolomics; NMR; HPLC; chemometrics; multivariate; transgenic; GMO