Abstract:To evaluate the effects of lead (Pb) contamination on barley grain. This study used liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) metabolomics technology, combined with principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and other multivariate statistical methods. Under the condition of P<0.5, VIP>1, in the positive and negative ion modes, A total of 50 differential metabolites (20 up-regulated and 30 down-regulated) were screened out between lead-stressed and control barley. It was found that lead stress had significant effects on the content of lipids and lipid-like molecules, organic acids and derivatives, organic oxygen compounds, and organic heterocyclic compounds in barley. Through KEGG functional pathway enrichment analysis, 16 metabolic pathways were screened out, of which 4 metabolic pathways (citric acid cycle, glutathione metabolism, sugar oxide and dicarboxylic acid metabolism, phenylpropane metabolism) were the metabolic pathways that hit the differential metabolites. The results showed that lead ion significantly affected lipids and lipid-like molecules, benzene ring compounds and organic oxygen compounds in barley by affecting amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, cofactor and vitamin metabolism, and biosynthesis of other secondary metabolites.