Advancing Biodiversity Research: The Metabolomics of Mexico Territory Project

Keywords: Metabolomics; Natural Products; Biodiversity; METxico; Web-Platform. Introduction: Mexico is recognized as a megadiverse country, harboring an estimated 10-12% of all documented species worldwide. In situ investigations have cataloged approximately 19,150 endemic species, including plants, beetles, spiders, reptiles, and bees. This exceptional biodiversity highlights the need for advanced methodologies to explore and illuminate its chemical space. Metabolomics —large-scale analysis of metabolites — facilitates the identification of natural products and chemotaxonomic markers and opens new avenues for therapeutic development. Aim: To establish a robust metabolomics data analysis pipeline, promote multi-institutional collaboration, advance chemotaxonomic profiling and drug discovery, and enhance public access to chemical diversity data. Methods: This study presents key aspects of the METabolomics of Mexico Territory Project (Aka “The METxico Project”), including community-driven sample collection, mass spectrometry-based untargeted metabolomic analysis, and the development of an interactive web platform for data integration, visualization, and dissemination. Results: In response to challenges and opportunities nationwide, The METxico Project was initiated in 2020. This nationwide, multidisciplinary initiative currently integrates 36 Centers, Institutes, or research groups and 64 academic collaborators, focusing on the metabolomic characterization of terrestrial and marine species of national interest. Additionally, we introduce a web-based platform designed to visualize and interconnect biological and chemical information of 134 metabolomes, part of the first collection, which is rapidly growing each year. Conclusions: Through this initiative, we have established a comprehensive framework for academic collaboration, driven methodological innovation in metabolomics, contributed to the global understanding of biodiversity, and facilitated data visualization through a web-platform.