Abstract
Metabolome analysis using mass spectrometry such as GC-MS or LC-MS has been developed to identify metabolites in plants with an improved efficiency. Recently, CE-MS has been reported to be a useful tool to identify plant metabolites, especially in charged species. We established the simultaneous quantification of plant hormones together with primary metabolites including amino acids, organic acids and phosphate compounds in A. thaliana plants by CE-ESI-QTOF.
In this study, we investigated metabolic changes in response to exogenously applied auxin (IAA) using CE-ESI-QTOF. When plants were treated with 10-7 M IAA for 12 hours, levels of some organic acids decreased in shoots and increased in roots compared to the control. Also, basic amino acids both in shoots and roots increased compared to the control. These results suggest that some metabolites, which are related to nitrogen assimilation, respond to exogenous IAA. We are now measuring the effect of shorter IAA treatment on the metabolite levels in A. thaliana plants, too.
