Analysis of metabolite profiles in leaf tissues of transgenic groundnut plants modified for resistance against Tobacco streak virus

The metabolic profile of transgenic groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plants transformed with a gene construct encoding hairpin RNA (hpRNA) of Tobacco streak virus - coat protein gene sequence was compared with that of non-transformed control plants by using gas chromatography coupled to electron impact ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (GC/EITOF- MS). A total of 38 metabolites were identified and annotated using the Golm Metabolome Database and Tag Finder software. Several resistance- related metabolites such as benzoic acid, methionine, myristic acid, myo-inositol, oleic acid and D-fructose were detected in both transgenic and wild-type plants. The metabolites such as lauric acid, L-arabitol, threitol, mannose, glucose and sorbose were detected in the transgenic plant, whereas the metabolites viz., mannobiose, galactose and L-tryptophan were detected in the non-transgenic control plant. However these compositional differences did not cause any unintended changes in plant growth and yield of transgenic groundnut plant. The results showed that expression of dsRNA of TSV- CP gene sequence and two antibiotic marker genes had no undesirable effect on vital metabolic activities of transgenic groundnut plant.