Plant nutritional and metabolic responses to drought and elevated CO₂revealed by machine learning-enabled non-targeted metabolomics

Projected atmospheric CO₂rise, coupled with intensification of drought in many regions, impacts the physiology of C₃plants beyond photosynthesis and carbon metabolism. The interaction between CO₂and drought affects the concentrations of many nutrients in crops, often resulting in excessive agrochemical use and less nutritious food production. To address these challenges, we investigated nutrient dynamics inBrachypodium distachyon, a model crop plant, under ambient and elevated CO₂, factorially combined with well-watered or drought treatments. Integrative analyses of plant physiology, transcriptomics, and machine learning-enabled non-targeted metabolomics revealed that plant elemental composition and metabolomic responses to elevated CO₂strongly depend on water availability and differ between shoots and roots. Elevated CO₂and drought significantly impaired nitrogen status, with root nitrate uptake being more negatively affected than ammonium uptake. However, elevated CO₂increased iron partitioning in shoots under drought, potentially driven by enhanced carbon availability facilitating chelator synthesis for iron translocation. The high accumulation of sphingolipids in roots under combined stresses suggests a protective role against ionome imbalances. These findings highlight how climate stressors interact to shape plant nutrient dynamics, providing insights that can guide agricultural practices and breeding strategies to optimize nutrient management and foster sustainable agriculture under changing climate.