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Updated: Aug 14, 2025
MALDI-Mass Spectrometric Imaging for the Investigation of Metabolites in Medicago truncatula Root Nodules
Published on: March 5, 2014
Tracking Spatial Distribution Alterations of Multiple Endogenous Molecules during Lentil Germination by MALDI Mass
Yan-Xia Zhang1,2, Yi-Da Zhang1, Yan-Ping Shi1
1CAS Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Northwestern Plant Resources and Key Laboratory for Natural Medicine of Gansu Province, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Lanzhou 730000, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Exploring the spatial distribution alterations of metabolites during lentil germination is essential to reveal the nutritional value, physiological function, and metabolic pathway in lentils. Hence, an effective matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) method was established for the first time to visualize the spatial localization changes of 53 metabolites in lentils during germination for 12-72 h. The results of MALDI-MSI analysis showed that phosphatidylinositols, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylglycerols, and phosphatidic acids were mainly located in the cotyledons of lentils throughout the germination process, while triacylglycerols, phosphatidylcholines, diacylglycerols, amino acids, choline, and spermine spread throughout the lentil tissue at the initial stage of germination and gradually presented obvious distribution characteristics in the radicle with increasing germination time. Heat map analysis was used to visualize the correlations between lipid content changes and germination time, which supported the use of germinated lentils as nutraceutical or functional food.
