NMR-Based Metabolomic Analysis of Huanglongbing-Asymptomatic and -Symptomatic Citrus Trees

Huanglongbing (HLB) is one of the most severe diseases that affects citrus trees worldwide and is associated with the yet uncultured bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter spp. To assess the metabolomic differences between HLB-asymptomatic and -symptomatic tissues, extracts from leaf and root samples taken from a uniform 6-year-old commercial orchard of Valencia trees were subjected to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and chemometrics. The results show that the symptomatic trees had higher sucrose content in their leaves and no variation in their roots. In addition, proline betaine and malate were detected in smaller amounts in the HLB-affected symptomatic leaves. The changes in metabolic processes of the plant in response to HLB are corroborated by the relationship between the bacterial levels and the metabolic profiles.