Seaweed Metabolomics: A New Facet of Functional Genomics

Metabolomics is one of the emerging areas of functional genomics and provides newer insights in systems biology. The integration of metabolome with transcriptome analysis facilitates our understanding of gene functionality and its regulation in various metabolic pathways. Marine organisms have a variety of unique biological processes and adaptations suitable for their successful propagation. Marine macroalgae, known as ‘seaweeds’, are one of the economically important renewable resources of the oceans and have characteristic morphological and physiological processes quite different from terrestrial plants. Seaweeds being attached forms in intertidal region undergo periodic diverse chronic stresses arising from variations in desiccation, irradiance, ultraviolet radiation, salinity, tidal currents and others from anthropogenic activities. Despite the advancement in transcriptomics for seaweeds in recent times, the genetic regulations controlling various biochemical pathways are still in its inception and largely remain unexplored. The study of metabolomics provides a snapshot of cell’s catalytic and regulatory processes and also deciphers metabolic responses involved in plant and environment interactions. While summarizing the recent advancements made in analytical technology platforms, a comprehensive review of metabolomics was prepared and discussed from the context of functional genomics, systems biology and biotechnology to gain newer insights into various regulatory networks functioning in the seaweeds.