Application of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) metabolomic fingerprinting to characterise GM and conventional maize varieties

Abstract

The feasibility of metabolomic fingerprinting approach based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOFMS) was studied to assess its ability to discriminate between maize varieties, and to show the associations between them on the metabolomic level. The non-targeted metabolomic analysis was applied to assess the variability within two varieties grown under different environmental conditions and to characterise the association within a sample set comprising both conventional and transgenic (MON-ØØ81Ø-6) maize varieties cultivated under the same environmental conditions (locality). Typical metabolomic fingerprints were established for individual plants. The plants representing two varieties formed well separated clusters. Metabolomic fingerprints of the second sample set enabled their unambiguous discrimination. The differences in metabolomic fingerprints between maize varieties were identified and documented by grouping in PCA and/or CA. The results indicate a similar genetic basis of transgenic maize varieties as they descend from a MON 810 event. The results explicitly showed that the variability of the metabolites in MON 810 did not exceed the ranges measured within the conventional varieties, thus supporting the concept of substantial equivalence.