Metabolomics-assisted Breeding: A New Omics-integrated Avenue for Improved Stress Response in Plants

In the face of increasing environmental challenges such as climate change, enhancing plant resilience to stress has become a critical goal in agriculture. Metabolomics-assisted breeding (MetAB) has emerged as a promising approach that integrates metabolomics with traditional breeding strategies to develop stress-tolerant plant varieties. This chapter explores the principles, methodologies, and potential applications of MetAB in improving plant stress responses. Metabolomics, a powerful tool in systems biology, enables comprehensive analysis of metabolites present in plant tissues. By profiling the metabolome under stress conditions, MetAB provides valuable insights into the biochemical pathways and metabolic networks involved in stress tolerance mechanisms. Through the identification of stress-responsive metabolites and metabolic signatures associated with stress adaptation, MetAB facilitates the selection of superior plant genotypes…