Spatial metabolomics as a new avenue in plant developmental biology: insights into serine biosynthesis during spermatogenesis in <i><b>Marchantia polymorpha</b></i>

Plant development is a complex process governed by genetic regulatory networks in which metabolites play essential roles by modulating gene expression and cellular processes. While the functional importance of metabolites in plant development is increasingly recognized, their precise spatial and temporal accumulation patterns, which are closely tied to their mechanistic roles, remain poorly understood. This study highlights the need for high-resolution analyses finely tuned to specific developmental processes within the framework of plant developmental metabolomics. Using a Marchantia polymorpha mutant lacking 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (PGDH), an essential enzyme in serine biosynthesis and sperm formation, we demonstrated the importance of spatiotemporal metabolomics analysis. Conventional whole-organ metabolomics analysis failed to capture the difference between wild-type and mutant plants. Despite its limited resolution, however, spatial metabolomics analysis detected local metabolic changes caused by the mutation. Our results highlight the necessity of focusing on local metabolic alterations to better understand the influence of metabolism on plant development. This study illustrated how high-resolution spatial metabolomics analysis can provide new insights into the metabolic processes underlying plant development. Our findings highlight the need to refine metabolomics tools to better capture the spatial and temporal dynamics of metabolism during plant development, with broad implications for plant biology.植物发育是一类受基因调控网络支配的复杂生命过程，其中代谢物通过调控基因表达与细胞进程发挥核心功能。尽管代谢物在植物发育中的功能重要性日益获得学界认可，但其与作用机制紧密关联的精确时空积累模式仍未得到充分解析。本研究强调，在植物发育代谢组学（plant developmental metabolomics）框架下，亟需针对特定发育过程开展精细化的高分辨率分析。本研究以缺失丝氨酸生物合成与精子形成关键酶3-磷酸甘油酸脱氢酶（3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase，PGDH）的地钱（Marchantia polymorpha）突变体为研究材料，证实了时空代谢组学分析的重要价值。传统全组织代谢组学分析无法捕捉野生型与突变体植株间的代谢差异；尽管空间分辨率有限，但空间代谢组学（spatial metabolomics）分析成功检测到了该突变引发的局部代谢变化。我们的研究结果凸显了聚焦局部代谢改变的必要性，以更深入地理解代谢过程对植物发育的调控作用。本研究阐明了高分辨率空间代谢组学分析如何为解析植物发育背后的代谢机制提供全新视角。本研究发现表明，亟需优化代谢组学工具，以更精准地捕捉植物发育过程中代谢的时空动态特征，该成果对植物生物学领域具有广泛的研究启示。