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Rapid High-throughput Species Identification of Botanical Material Using Direct Analysis in Real Time High Resolution Mass Spectrometry
Published on: October 2, 2016
Systematic Revealing of Plant-Derived Nerve Agent Exposure Markers by In-Source Fragmentation-Enabled HRMS
Yongqi Li1, Yichun Chen1, Jia Chen1
1Academy of Military Medical Sciences , Beijing100850, China.
Analytical Chemistry
|July 28, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed a new method to detect plant-derived nerve agent adducts, finding 256 potential markers. This advance aids environmental exposure confirmation and forensic analysis of these challenging compounds.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Forensic Chemistry
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Identifying plant-derived nerve agent adducts is difficult for environmental and forensic purposes.
- Existing methods struggle to detect diverse, uncharacterized compounds.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel screening strategy for identifying plant-derived nerve agent adducts.
- To establish a repository of potential biomarkers for exposure confirmation and forensic attribution.
Main Methods:
- A fragmentation pattern-driven, nontargeted screening strategy was employed.
- This integrated in-source fragmentation, Full MS, all-ion fragmentation (AIF), and neutral loss (NL)-triggered ddMS2 acquisition.
- Agent-specific neutral losses and diagnostic fragment ions were utilized.
Main Results:
- 256 tentative adduct-related features were identified across four nerve agents and four plant species.
- Structural characteristics and adduction sites were elucidated using high-resolution MS, fragmentation pathways, and DFT calculations.
- Nine features were conserved across plant species, and 11 were detectable at low exposure levels in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Conclusions:
- The developed strategy expands the detectable chemical space for plant-derived nerve agent adducts.
- This provides a transferable framework for environmental exposure assessment and emerging contaminants research.
- Identified features show potential as viable markers for exposure confirmation.
