Faster Separation and Quantification of Metabolites in Brassica Napus Rapeseeds

Dionex is proud to announce a new platform developed by a customer to measure various metabolites in Brassica napus seeds. In cooperation with the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, the company has released Customer Application Note 109: Primary Metabolite Analysis of Plant Material Using a Triple Quadrupole MS Coupled to a Monolith Anion-Exchange Column. This method combines separation using the 1mm IonSwift™ MAX-100 anion-exchange column and ICS-3000 system and detection with the API 4000™ electrospray ionisation (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) system from AB SCIEX, providing a simple, rapid, specific, and sensitive method for the simultaneous detection and quantification of several primary metabolites involved in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and glycolysis pathway. Compared to the previously used method, the IonSwift MAX-100 column facilitates shorter run times and helps achieve better sensitivity. This new platform combines Dionex ion chromatography (IC) and triple quadrupole MS. The IC tandem mass spectrometry (IC-MS/MS) technique provides a good tool to identify and quantify metabolites in a complex matrix. The biological pathways include many homologues and structural isomers with the same mass and analogue fragmentations, so it is essential for the analysis to provide good resolution and specific identification of the different compounds.