Elemental bioimaging by means of LA-ICP-OES: investigation of the calcium, sodium and potassium distribution in tobacco plant stems and leaf petioles

• Published in: Metallomics 2017-06, Vol.9 (6), p.676-684
• Main Authors: Thyssen, G M, Holtkamp, M, Kaulfürst-Soboll, H, Wehe, C A, Sperling, M, von Schaewen, A, Karst, U
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Calcium - analysis; Calcium - metabolism; Lasers; Mass Spectrometry - methods; Molecular Imaging - methods; Nicotiana - growth & development; Nicotiana - metabolism; Plant Leaves - growth & development; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant Stems - growth & development; Plant Stems - metabolism; Potassium - analysis; Potassium - metabolism; Sodium - analysis; Sodium - metabolism
• ISSN: 1756-5901; 1756-591X
• DOI: 10.1039/c7mt00003k

Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (LA-ICP-OES) is presented as a valuable tool for elemental bioimaging of alkali and earth alkali elements in plants. Whereas LA-ICP-OES is commonly used for micro analysis of solid samples, laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has advanced to the gold standard for bioimaging. However, especially for easily excitable and ubiquitous elements such as alkali and earth alkali elements, LA-ICP-OES holds some advantages regarding simultaneous detection, costs, contamination, and user-friendliness. This is demonstrated by determining the calcium, sodium and potassium distribution in tobacco plant stem and leaf petiole tissues. A quantification of the calcium contents in a concentration range up to 1000 μg g using matrix-matched standards is presented as well. The method is directly compared to a LA-ICP-MS approach by analyzing parallel slices of the same samples.