Association analysis of phenotypic and metabolomic changes in Arabidopsis accessions and their F 1 hybrids affected by different photoperiod and sucrose supply

Photoperiod and sucrose (Suc) assimilation play important roles in the regulation of plant growth and development. However, it remains unclear how natural variation of plants could contribute to metabolic changes under various growth conditions. Here, we investigated the developmental and metabolomic responses of two natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, Columbia (Col) and C24, and their reciprocal F1 hybrids grown under four carbon source regimens, i.e., two different photoperiods and the presence or absence of exogenous Suc supply. The effect of exogenous Suc clearly appeared in the growth of Col and the F1 hybrid but not in C24, whereas long-day conditions had significant positive effects on the growth of all lines. Comparative metabolite profiling of Col, C24, and the F1 hybrid revealed that changes in metabolite levels, particularly sugars, were highly dependent on genotype-specific responses rather than growth conditions. The presence of Suc led to over-accumulation of seven metabolites, including four sugars, a polyamine, and two amino acids in C24, whereas no such accumulation was observed in the profiles of Col and the F1 hybrid. Thus, the comparative metabolite profiling revealed that the two parental lines of the hybrid show a distinct difference in sugar metabolism.