Deuterium labeling for investigating de novo synthesis of terpene volatiles in Achyranthes bidentata.

Plants synthesize and accumulate secondary metabolites as defensive volatiles against diverse stresses. We aim to unravel the jasmonate-inducible volatile de novo synthetic metabolites in plants using a deuterium-labeling technique. Jasmonic acid and its methyl ester (MeJA) are well-documented for inducing defensive volatiles. Here, we have developed an efficient deuterium oxide (D2O)-based labeling approach to determine the extent of de novo synthetic metabolites in a model plant A. bidentata bidentata. The labeling approach was demonstrated on quantitative profiling of terpene volatile organic compounds (VOCs) elicited by airborne MeJA in Achyranthes plants. We show, for the first time that airborne MeJA-elicited terpene VOCs are predominantly and differentially de novo synthesized except for a homoterpene, (3E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene, which is weakly and least labelled with deuterium. D2O is therefore an efficient labeling source for investigating de novo synthetic metabolites of terpene VOCs in planta.