植物は化学物質で“会話”する―その解読に挑む研究(Plants Speak in Chemicals — Scientists Are Learning How to Listen)

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2026-02-24 イリノイ大学アーバナ・シャンペーン校

米イリノイ大学アーバナ・シャンペーン校の研究チームは、植物が放出する揮発性有機化合物(VOCs)を解析し、ストレスや病害虫被害などの状態を読み取る技術の開発を進めている。植物は環境変化に応じて特定の化学物質を発し、周囲の植物や昆虫に情報を伝達する。本研究では、高感度センサーとデータ解析を組み合わせることで、作物の異常を早期に検知する手法を検討。農薬使用の最適化や収量向上、持続可能な農業管理への応用が期待される。

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植物メタボロミクスの深掘り:マイルストーン、技術、そしてトランスレーショナルインパクト A deep dive into plant metabolomics: Milestones, technologies, and translational impact

Megha Rai,Mainak Dutta,Kazuki Saito,Amit Rai
Plant Physiology  Published:24 September 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf408

Abstract

Metabolomics has emerged as an essential pillar of plant functional genomics, filling the gap between genotype and phenotype with direct biochemical readout of plant physiology. This update review highlights the contribution of metabolomics as a field toward our current knowledge of plant biology, starting from targeted analysis to the present high-throughput untargeted era of metabolomics. We elaborate on how metabolomics revolutionized the study of plant stress response, unveiling roles of specialized metabolites in defense, adaptation, and ecological interactions, and, in extension, its contribution toward functional genomics leading to the improvement of plants with desired traits. We identified and summarized over 500 open-source computational tools for analyzing metabolomics datasets, encompassing processes from mass feature extraction to metabolite annotation. We discuss its use in the elucidation of biosynthetic pathways, especially specialized metabolites in medicinal plants, and the discovery of candidates through comparative transcriptome-metabolome profiling. This review further covers the emergence of metabolome-wide association study and metabolite QTL analysis, which exploit genetic diversity to localize biosynthetic genes and regulatory sites. Emerging technology such as imaging MS, single-cell metabolomics, AI-powered metabolite identification and annotation, and global data repositories promise to scale metabolomics to precision crop improvement and synthetic biology. In covering all areas with completeness and vision, we intend that this review acts as the go-to guide for plant metabolism decoders, teachers, and practitioners working to unlock plant metabolism for sustainable agriculture, medicine, and biotechnology.

生物環境工学
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