Toward plant spatial hormonomics: multiple phytohormone profiling by derivatization assisted-ionization enhanced targeted MALDI MS imaging
EMSL Project ID
60091
Abstract
Phytohormones are physiologically important small molecules that regulate diverse processes as chemical messengers within plants and in plant communications with environments. However, the complex hormonal crosstalk and the spatial distribution of hormones in different cells remain understudied, primarily due to the lack of a spatially resolved platform for phytohormones screening at single cell-type levels. Over the last few years, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) has emerged as the most utilized capability for untargeted spatial metabolomics in EMSL. However, our current workflows lack the ability to detect and map some of the most important bioactive plant molecules, including phytohormones. This is mainly due to the wide polarity range, low concentration, and poor ionizability of these molecules. As such, we propose to develop a MALDI-MSI method for in-situ imaging of phytohormones in plant tissues. This capability will bypass the obstacles mentioned above via on-tissue derivatization for enhanced ionization efficiency. We will develop on-tissue derivatization agents and protocols that will increase the ionization efficiency of phytohormones during MALDI-MSI analysis experiments. We will then utilize this capacity to understand how phytohormones regulate plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.
Project Details
Start Date
2021-10-29
End Date
2023-07-01
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members