Metabolomic Analysis of the Effect of Rice False Smut (Ustilaginoidea virens) on the Quality of High-Quality Rice

Abstract

To investigate the mechanism for the effect of rice false smut on rice grain quality, this study used two high-quality japonica rice varieties, Liaogeng 433 and Liaogeng 2501, moderately susceptible to rice false smut. Through non-targeted metabolomics analysis, 271 metabolites were identified in rice grains, and the relative contents of 49 metabolites were affected by rice false smut. The relative contents of gallocatechin, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, sinapinic acid, spermine, α-tocopherol, nicotinamide, dodecanoic acid, and palmitic acid were significantly reduced, while the relative contents of 1-monoolein, 2-monoolein, 1-monostearin, fructose, erythritol, galactose, maltose, tagatose, shikimic acid, and α-ketoglutaric acid were significantly increased. These changes led to disorders in sugar metabolism, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, fatty acid synthesis and secondary metabolism in rice, thereby increasing the chalkiness or chalky gain percentage of rice and reducing the head rice percentage, antioxidant capacity and nutritional quality.

Keywords

• rice false smut; non-targeted metabolomics; metabolites; rice quality; nutritional quality