Integrated metabolomics for abiotic stress responses in plants

Plants are considered to biosynthesize specialized (traditionally called secondary) metabolites to adapt to environmental stresses such as biotic and abiotic stresses. The majority of specialized metabolites induced by abiotic stress characteristically exhibit antioxidative activity in vitro, but their function in vivo is largely yet to be experimentally confirmed. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the identification of the role of abiotic stress-responsive specialized metabolites with an emphasis on flavonoids. Integrated 'omics' analysis, centered on metabolomics with a series of plant resources differing in their flavonoid accumulation, showed experimentally that flavonoids play a major role in antioxidation in vivo. In addition, the results also suggest the role of flavonoids in the vacuole. To obtain more in-depth insights, chemical and biological challenges need to be addressed for the identification of unknown specialized metabolites and their in vivo functions.