Comparative Metabolic Study of Two Contrasting Chinese Cabbage Genotypes under Mild and Severe Drought Stress

Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis) is an important leafy vegetable crop cultivated worldwide. Drought is one of the most important limiting factors for the growth, production and quality of Chinese cabbage due to its weak drought tolerance. In order to deepen the understanding of drought stress response in Chinese cabbage, metabolomics studies were conducted in drought-tolerant (DT) and drought-susceptible (DS) genotypes of Chinese cabbage under water deficit-simulated mild and severe drought stress conditions. A total of 777 metabolites were detected, wherein 90 of them were proposed as the drought-responsive metabolites in Chinese cabbage, with abscisic acid (ABA), serine, choline alfoscerate, and sphingosine as potential representative drought stress biomarkers. We also found that drought-tolerant and drought-susceptible genotypes showed differential metabolic accumulation patterns with contrasting drought response mechanisms. Notably, constitutively high levels of ABA and glutathione were detected in drought-tolerant genotype in all tested and control conditions. In addition, proline, sucrose, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and glutathione were also found to be highly correlated to drought tolerance. This study is the first metabolomic study on how Chinese cabbage responds to drought stress, and could provide insights on how to develop and cultivate new drought-resistant varieties.