Comparative Metabolomics analysis of Wild and Suspension Cultured Cells (SCC) of Seagrass Halodule pinifolia (Miki) Hartog of Cymodoceaceae family

Abstract This study investigated the systematic identification and characterization of metabolic changes in wild and SCC of H. pinifolia using GC-MS based metabolomics approach. Finally, we identified 98 metabolites in wild and 125 metabolites in SCC and determined their relative abundance. Identified metabolites were mapped to general biochemical pathways and these metabolites spanned 77 primary and secondary metabolism pathways in wild, while 73 metabolism pathways in SCC. Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis of integration data demonstrated that wild and SCC showed profound biochemical changes including glutathione metabolism, glutamate metabolism, phenylalanine and tyrosine metabolism in wild, while SCC caused signification variations in citric acid metabolism, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, oxidative phosphorylation related pathways respectively. Random forest analysis showed top 15 metabolites and their correct classification. Present findings provide baseline information on H. pinifolia metabolism in the marine and artificial environments. Moreover, metabolomics data obtained from H. pinifolia may be used to compare the metabolites associated with stress response which would facilitate further dissection of the mechanism of stress tolerance of other seagrass species in the marine environments.