Wolfender Jean-Luc, Glauser Gaetan, Boccard Julien, Rudaz Serge
Laboratory of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne, 30, quai Ernest-Ansermet, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
Nat Prod Commun. 2009 Oct;4(10):1417-30.
Metabolomics, which aims at the comprehensive and quantitative analysis of wide arrays of metabolites in biological samples, is playing an increasingly important role in plant science. Various biological issues have been successfully studied by this holistic approach that includes global metabolite composition assessment, mutant characterization, taxonomy, developmental processes, stress response, interaction with environment, quality control assessment and mode of action of herbal medicine. This review summarizes the main mass spectrometry methods used for performing these studies and discusses the potential, but also the current limitations of the various approaches. The intention is not to cover exhaustively the field, which has considerably grown over about one decade, but to give a brief insight into the methods commonly employed and discuss some applications that reveal the potential of metabolomics in phytochemistry and systems biology.
代谢组学旨在对生物样品中的大量代谢物进行全面定量分析，在植物科学中发挥着越来越重要的作用。通过这种整体方法，包括全球代谢物组成评估、突变体表型鉴定、分类学、发育过程、应激反应、与环境的相互作用、质量控制评估以及草药的作用方式等各种生物学问题已得到成功研究。本综述总结了用于开展这些研究的主要质谱方法，并讨论了各种方法的潜力以及当前的局限性。目的并非详尽涵盖这个在大约十年间已大幅发展的领域，而是简要介绍常用方法，并探讨一些揭示代谢组学在植物化学和系统生物学中潜力的应用。
