Distinct metabolite profiles in tissues and exudates of a monocot and dicot shaped by the environment

Plants exhibit remarkable plasticity in response to environmental changes. Understanding how plants adapt to diverse environmental conditions through changes in their metabolite profiles can provide insights into their adaptive strategies under suboptimal climate conditions. For this, metabolite profiles of tissues and root-derived, exuded compounds in various environmental conditions need to be characterized. Here, we compare the shoot, root, and root exudate metabolite profiles of the monocot Brachypodium distachyon and the dicot Arabidopsis thaliana grown in sterile, non-sterile, and sucrose-supplied basal salt medium or soil extract to represent natural and various standard laboratory conditions. We report unique metabolite fingerprints in shoots and roots for each species and environmental condition. Exuded compounds of Arabidopsis displayed higher sensitivity to soil extract conditions, whereas Brachypodium showed significant changes in response to non-sterile conditions. Organic acids, lipids, organic oxygen compounds, and phenylpropanoids were major contributors to the observed differences. Our results highlight the importance of considering environmental aspects when investigating plant metabolism and point towards crucial chemical classes involved in plant-microbe-environment interactions.