Integrated Analysis of Metabolic Profiling of Root Exudates Revealed Potential Allelochemicals from Pseudostellaria heterophylla

Numerous studies have shown that the rhizosphere allelochemicals closely related to the formation of replant problems in Pseudostellaria heterophylla. In this study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass technology was employed to screen the specific compounds in rhizosphere soil induced the formation of replant disease. Simultaneously, the compounds in cultured seedling of P. heterophylla and corresponding medium were identified using the identical methods to obtain compounds that had not been transformed or degraded by soil microbes. As a result, 176 specific molecules were identified in the rhizosphere soil, 1,011 in the rhizosphere tissue culture medium and 1,447 in plant tissue cultures were obtained by matching to the Traditional Chinese Medicine database. Further analysis found that 21 potential allelochemicals might be directly secreted from P. heterophylla plants, which had not been transformed or degraded in theory. Of which, 13 compounds possessed the allelopathic characteristics based on structural analysis that have been identified in other plants. Simultaneously, eight compounds were only present in the rhizosphere tissue culture medium and plant tissue cultures also were found to possess the allelopathic properties. This study provides an important reference for further screening and identification of specific allelochemicals that related closely to the formation of replant problems in P. heterophylla. © 2022 Friends Science Publishers