Using MetaboAnalyst to introduce undergraduates to lipidomic analysis and lipid remodeling in barley roots

Abstract

Lipidomics is a discipline that focuses on the identification and quantificationof lipids. Although a part of the larger omics field, lipidomics requires specificapproaches for the analysis and biological interpretation of datasets. This articlepresents a series of activities for introducing undergraduate microbiologystudents to lipidomic analysis through tools from the web-based platformMetaboAnalyst. The students perform a complete lipidomic workflow, whichincludes experiment design, data processing, data normalization, and statisticalanalysis of molecular phospholipid species obtained from barley rootsexposed to Fusarium macroconidia. The input data are provided by theteacher, but students also learn about the methods through which they wereoriginally obtained (untargeted liquid chromatography coupled with massspectrometry). The ultimate aim is for students to understand the biologicalsignificance of phosphatidylcholine acyl editing. The chosen methodologyallows users who are not proficient in statistics to make a comprehensive analysisof quantitative lipidomic datasets. We strongly believe that virtual activitiesbased on the analysis of such datasets should be incorporated more ofteninto undergraduate courses, in order to improve students´ data-handling skillsfor omics sciences.