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Record W4416137564 · doi:10.1101/2025.11.10.687686

Untargeted Metabolomics of Plant Samples using HPLC-DAD and Gaussian Mixture Models

2025· preprint· W4416137564 on OpenAlexaff
Justin Gambill, Chase M. Mason, Jordan A. Dowell

Bibliographic record

VenuebioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2025
Typepreprint
Language
FieldBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
TopicMetabolomics and Mass Spectrometry Studies
Canadian institutionsUniversity of British Columbia, Okanagan CampusUniversity of British Columbia
FundersArnold ArboretumUniversity of Central FloridaLouisiana State UniversityHarvard University
KeywordsMixture modelMetabolomicsLinear discriminant analysisGaussianPattern recognition (psychology)Metabolite

Abstract

fetched live from OpenAlex

Abstract/Summary Premise Plants produce millions of different chemical compounds, contributing greatly to their physiology and evolutionary trajectories. Most untargeted metabolomic methods are inaccessible, either due to upfront instrument costs or intensive technical training. More accessible methods using diode array detectors often only utilize a few wavelengths, preventing high-throughput observation of total metabolic diversity. Methods Leaves from the genera Betula , Magnolia, Rosa, and Viburnum were collected, dried and ground, extracted, and analyzed by HPLC-DAD. Chromatographic data was then processed in a curated R pipeline, and resulting resolved peaks were clustered by absorbance spectra using Gaussian Finite Mixture Models (GMMs). To assess clustering, GMM was compared to a more traditional linear discriminant analysis (LDA) method, with clusters identified through literature searches. Results Significant associations between the abundances of chemical classes and whole-metabolome alpha and beta diversity indices were recovered. In general, GMMs performed better than other classification methods like LDA, especially between classes that share common features like non-flavonoid phenolics and flavonoids. Discussion We show that our method can easily extract relevant class-level diversity of metabolite profiles among closely related species, genotypes, and ecotypes. Regardless of underlying research question, our method extends the usage of DAD beyond restricted targeted analyses and increases the accessibility of untargeted metabolomics.

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.

How this classification was reachedexpand

Full frame machine prediction

Teacher imitation

Not calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.

metaresearch head score (Codex)0.001
metaresearch head score (Gemma)0.001
Version: metacan-v3-hybrid-931329e0061cValidation status: machine_predicted_unvalidated
Candidate categoriesnone
Consensus categoriesnone
DomainCandidate signal: none · Consensus signal: none
Study designCandidate signal: Bench or experimental · Consensus signal: Bench or experimental
GenreCandidate signal: Methods · Consensus signal: Methods
Teacher disagreement score0.002
Threshold uncertainty score0.007

Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)

CategoryCodexGemma
Metaresearch0.0010.001
Meta-epidemiology (narrow)0.0010.000
Meta-epidemiology (broad)0.0010.001
Bibliometrics0.0010.001
Science and technology studies0.0000.000
Scholarly communication0.0010.001
Open science0.0010.001
Research integrity0.0010.001
Insufficient payload (model declined to judge)0.0010.001

Machine scores (provisional)

The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.

Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.

Opus teacher head0.018
GPT teacher head0.228
Teacher spread0.209 · how far apart the two teachers sit on this one work
Validation statusscore_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from it

Classification

machine, unvalidated

Machine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.

The models applied no category: nothing in the taxonomy fit this work.
Study designBench or experimental
Domainnot available
GenreMethods

How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".

Quick stats

Citations1
Published2025
Admission routes1
Has abstractyes

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