NMR metabolic profiling of transgenic maize with the Cry1A(b) gene

Journal or Publishing Institution: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry

Study: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf900811u

Author(s): Piccioni, F., Capitani, D., Zolla, L. and Mannina, L.

Article Type: Peer Reviewed Study

Record ID: 1893

Abstract: The metabolic profiles of seeds from the transgenic maize variety 33P67 and of the corresponding traditional variety were investigated using one- and two-dimensional NMR techniques. The transgenic variety carries a functional Cry1A(b) gene, which confers to the plant the ability to produce Bt insect toxin. About 40 water-soluble metabolites in the maize seed extracts were identified, providing a more complete ¹H and ¹³C NMR assignment with respect to the assignment reported in the literature. In particular ethanol, lactic acid, citric acid, lysine, arginine, glycine-betaine, raffinose, trehalose, α-galactose, and adenine were identified for the first time in the ¹H NMR spectrum of maize seeds extracts. The ¹H spectra of transgenic and nontransgenic seed maize samples turned out to be conservative, showing the same signals and therefore the same metabolites. However, a higher concentration of ethanol, citric acid, glycine-betaine, trehalose, as well as of another compound not yet completely identified, was observed in the transgenic extracts than in nontransgenic samples. So, it was possible to discriminate between transgenic and nontransgenic metabolic profilings through the use of an appropriate statistical analysis.

Keywords: Metabolic Profiling, NMR, Statistical Analysis, Transgenic Maize Seed; Plants, Zea mays, Arginine, Betaine, Chemical Composition, Citric Acid, Cultivars, Galactose, Genes, Genetically Engineered Organisms, Glycine, Lactic Acid, Lysine, Maize, Metabolites, Plant Compositions, Raffinose, Seeds, Transgenic Plants, Trehalose; Chemical Constituents of Plants, Corn, Cultivated Varieties, Genetically Engineered Plants, Genetically Modified Organisms, Genetically Modified Plants, GEOs, Glycinebetaine, Glycocoll, GMOs, Lactate, Melitose, Melitriose, Transgenic Organisms; Aluminium, Composite Materials, Deformation, Dimensions, Males, Manufacturing, Prediction; Bacterial Proteins, Endotoxins, Hemolysin Proteins, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Metabolome; Genetics, Chemistry; Seed Extracts, Bacillus thuringiensis, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Cry1A(b) Gene, Insecticidal Proteins, Crystal Proteins

Citation: Piccioni, F., Capitani, D., Zolla, L. and Mannina, L., 2009. NMR metabolic profiling of transgenic maize with the Cry1A (b) gene. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 57(14), pp.6041-6049.