CPSBB researchers conduct a large-scale metabolomic study of thousands of plants from botanical gardens in Bulgaria and Germany

Botanical gardens harbour thousands of plant species worldwide. While some of these species are well-known plants used by humans, others are underutilised crops, little-known exotic plants, or endangered ones. With the advances of high-throughput metabolomics, it is already possible to perform untargeted metabolite profiling of primary and secondary metabolites of all such species. Furthermore, botanical gardens have an unprecedented concentration of species from all continents, cultivated under optimal conditions (e.g., tropical rainforest environments, subtropical zones, arid environments, and temperate climates in both the northern and southern hemispheres). This is very convenient for studying their natural metabolic diversity.

Researchers and Phd students from CPSBB are studying the metabolic diversity of plants from botanical gardens in Bulgaria and Germany using innovative technologies at the Centre, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The focus is on 2,000 plants of great importance, including edible plants, underutilised species, medicinal plants, and wild species with significant importance for ecosystems.

The databases of primary and secondary metabolites generated by this research will provide not only fundamental knowledge about biochemical compositions but also pave the way for new applications by the scientific community worldwide, as they may potentially synthesise metabolites suitable for plant and animal biostimulants, human medications, and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the plant metabolome (e.g medicinal plants) is well known as a primary source of natural biologically active compounds.

In addition to large-scale metabolome screening of multiple species across the plant kingdom, the project is conducting a deep exploration of the metabolic diversity of selected plants with medicinal and antimicrobial properties. For this purpose, researchers identify species with potential nutritional and medicinal purposes and characterise them at different tissue levels (e.g., leaves, fruit, roots). The data generated will serve as a basis for future integration with genomics and transcriptomics analysis. This will facilitate the research of biosynthetic pathways, enable metabolic engineering, and aid in the search for new, effective biomolecules that can serve as potential medicinal drugs, food supplements, and cosmetic products.