Biology subjects

Wolters, F. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Wolters, F. C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Systematic mass-spectrometry-guided metabolic fingerprinting elucidates diversity of specialized metabolites across the Brassicaceae

O_LIPlants produce diverse bouquets of specialized metabolites (SMs), yet only a fraction of the vast phytochemical space has been explored to date. Comparative analysis of SM profiles can reveal hotspots of biochemical novelty, while systematic profiling across taxonomic levels does presently not cover large plant families. C_LIO_LITo study core and accessory SM profiles in the Brassicaceae plant family, we fingerprinted 14 species by Liquid-Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry (LCMS/MS). We develop standardized experimental and computational workflows integrating in silico annotation tools to study consensus compound class and substructure distributions of SMs. Furthermore, we investigate the congruence of chemotaxonomy and species phylogeny across an extended panel of 17 species. C_LIO_LIUnique metabolite profiles were outstanding in Camelina sativa, Capsella rubella, and B. vulgaris, with the largest unique terpenoid profile annotated in C. sativa, accounting for 33.5% and 55.6% in positive and negative ionization mode, respectively. Substructure motifs were found to overlap with compound class predictions, highlighted for triterpenoids in Camelinodae. Furthermore, dual-tissue chemotaxonomic clustering resembled relationships of Brassica subgenomes across tissues. C_LIO_LIWe anticipate that our systematic approach can serve as a blueprint for investigating biochemical diversity in other plant lineages and can boost the characterization of plant natural product pathways. C_LI

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Metabolic fingerprinting of 17 Brassicaceae species across three tissues

Plants produce the most diverse blends of specialized metabolites on earth. Natural products derived from plants are valuable resources for drug development, food chemistry, and crop resistance breeding. Phenotypes of specialized metabolite profiles can be captured by untargeted mass-spectrometry across species phylogeny, tissues, and genotypes. Here, we collected metabolic fingerprints of 17 Brassicaceae species across three tissues (paired leaf and root; flower) using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in positive and negative ionization mode. Corresponding metadata has been refined for reuse according to ReDU guidelines, and for integration with public genomic and transcriptomic data. Standardization of in vitro growth conditions, and data processing workflows enables integration of acquired raw and processed data across platforms for single- and multi-omics analysis. Further, the inclusion of tissue-specific metabolic profiles across ploidy levels, as well as across crop species and wild relatives, makes this dataset a valuable resource for natural product discovery.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Expanding the Triangle of U: The genome assembly of Hirschfeldia incana provides insights into chromosomal evolution, phylogenomics and high photosynthesis-related traits

The Brassiceae tribe encompasses many economically important crops and exhibits high intraspecific and interspecific phenotypic variation. After a shared whole-genome triplication (WGT) event (Br-, [~]15.9 million years ago), different lineages and species underwent differential chromosomal rearrangements (diploidization) leading to diverse patterns of gene retention and loss (fractionation). Lineage diversification and genomic changes contributed to an array of divergence in morphology, biochemistry, and physiology underlying photosynthesis-related traits. The C3 species Hirschfeldia incana is studied as it displays high photosynthetic rates under high-light conditions. We present an improved chromosome-level genome assembly for H. incana (Nijmegen, v2.0) using nanopore and chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) technologies, with 409Mb in size and an N50 of 52Mb (a 10x improvement over the previously published scaffold-level v1.0 assembly). The updated assembly and annotation allowed to investigate the WGT history of H. incana in a comparative phylogenomic framework from the Brassiceae ancestral genomic blocks and related diploidized crops. Hirschfeldia incana (x=7) shares extensive genome collinearity with Raphanus sativus (x=9). These two species share some commonalities with Brassica rapa and B. oleracea (A genome, x=10 and C genome, x=9, respectively) and other similarities with B. nigra (B genome, x=8). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that H. incana and R. sativus form a monophyletic clade in between the Brassica A/C and B genomes. We postulate that H. incana and R. sativus genomes are results of reciprocal hybridization combinations of the Brassica A/C and B genome types. Our results might explain the discrepancy observed in published studies regarding phylogenetic placement of H. incana and R. sativus in relation to the "Triangle of U" species. Expression analysis of WGT retained gene copies revealed sub-genome expression divergence, likely due to neo- or sub-functionalization. Finally, we highlighted genes associated with physio-biochemical-anatomical adaptive changes observed in H. incana which likely facilitate its high-photosynthesis traits under high light.

plant biology↗