Metabolic profiles in the course of the shikimic acid pathway of Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus exposed to mesotrione and its degradation products

The influence of pesticides on the metabolism of edible plants has not been fully investigated. Moreover, once introduced into the environment, pesticides are degraded to many compounds with undefined bioactivity. In presented work, under experimental conditions, model edible plant (Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus) was exposed to herbicide stress by application of a herbicide (mesotrione, 2-(4-methanesulfonyl-2-nitrobenzoyl)cyclohexane-1,3-dione, MES) or its degradation products (amino-4-(methylsulfonyl)benzoic acid, AMBA; 4-(methylsulfonyl)-2-nitrobenzoic acid MNBA; cyclohexane-1,3-dione, CHD). Metabolic profiles of plants were employed to estimate the plant's defence response to MES and its metabolites. The intensity of herbicide stress was determined by measuring the changes in chlorophyll and catecholamines concentration formed in the shikimic acid pathway. Non-target analysis was conducted by LC-MS/MS, determination of catecholamines by LC-FL, chlorophyll by spectrophotometry. The highest phytotoxicity is characterized by MES (2000%-fold increase in the content of herbicide stress marker (normetanephrine) compared to a blank), followed by CHD (500%) combined with 15% increase in chlorophyll concentration. AMBA and MNBA as stress factors caused the increase in the content of catecholamines in the plant (86–160%). Simultaneously, an increase in chlorophyll content was observed (26–50%). Such diversity of the organism's defence response, also visible on metabolic profiles, can be associated with the chemical structure of compounds that are stress factors. MES and CHD, in contrast to AMBA and MNBA, have cyclohexano-1,3-moiety in their structure, which seems to be responsible for herbicidal properties.