Interlaboratory and cross-platform accessibility of time-of-flight wood identification database

Area of Science:

• * Botany
• * Analytical Chemistry
• * Forensic Science

Background:

• * The US Fish and Wildlife Service maintains a mass spectral database of tree species, crucial for combating illegal logging and international trade.
• * This database is primarily built and queried using a specific ambient ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) platform.
• * Laboratories with different mass spectrometry (MS) instruments seek compatibility with this database.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To compare the efficacy of Orbitrap MS instruments against the established TOF-MS platform for tree species identification using a shared database.
• * To assess the potential for broader adoption of the tree species database by laboratories using diverse MS instrumentation.

Main Methods:

• * Four tree species were selected for inter-laboratory comparison.
• * Wood samples were analyzed using both Orbitrap MS and TOF-MS platforms with direct analysis in real time ionization.
• * Sample identities were confirmed through microscopic wood anatomy.

Main Results:

• * Orbitrap MS successfully identified all tested species with confidence comparable to TOF-MS.
• * Orbitrap analysis often exhibited less spectral variation than TOF-MS.
• * Two scanned mass ranges were required in Orbitrap analysis to achieve sufficient peak intensity for database matching.
• * Mass accuracy and signal abundance matching to the database were not consistently superior with Orbitrap MS.

Conclusions:

• * Orbitrap MS instruments are a viable alternative for identifying tree species using the existing mass spectral database.
• * The study demonstrates the potential for wider application of the database across different MS platforms.
• * Minor adjustments to Orbitrap analysis protocols can ensure successful database utilization.