Applications of Metabolomics Analysis in Environmental Research

In the environment, organisms are constantly interacting with stressors, either physical, such as light and temperature, or chemicals, such as pesticides or drugs. In all cases, organisms respond to these stressors by means of changes in gene expression and protein activity, which is ultimately reflected in the metabolite composition. Therefore, the increasing interest in the effects of environmental conditions on organisms and human health has enabled the progress of metabolomics in the environmental research field.

The development of advanced instrumental analysis technologies has enabled the progress of omic sciences in general, also in metabolomics. When these technologies are applied to biological samples, the huge amount of data produced needs for advanced data analysis methods to extract relevant information and to elaborate a biological interpretation and new hypothesis.

In this chapter, the applications of metabolomics to environmental sciences are divided into five sections: microorganisms, bacterial volatile organic compounds, plants, aquatic organisms, and humans. In each section, the interest of metabolomic applications is discussed, and the instrumental and data analysis methodologies are emphasized in different literature examples.