Plant Hormone Analysis

Plant hormones are highly dynamic chemical messengers that play essential roles in the regulation of plant physiological processes, including cell growth, organ differentiation, and response to biotic and abiotic stresses. Therefore, analysis and monitoring of plant hormones forms a valuable tool in plant performance improvement and new crop trait development.

As the plant hormones often present at fairly low concentrations, and their amounts and distributions and are actively changing, it is critical to analyze the hormone levels in real time with high sensitivity. Lifeasible, as a leading plant biotechnology with a long history of plant physiological studies, provides both biosensor-based and mass spectrometry-based approaches that ensure continuous and accurate detections of plant hormones. 

Biosensor-based methods allow continuous monitoring of hormone levels, as well as visualization of local distributions of targeted hormones. Lifeasible provides a list of biosensors that can be applied to the detection of a wide range of hormones in various types of plant tissues.

• Electrochemical biosensors. Utilizing current or impedance changes resulted from enzymatic redox reactions as sensory readout; intermediate compounds that are specific to certain plant hormones can also be used as biosensors or electrodes to monitor hormone levels in real-time (Figure 1).  
• Immunosensors. Single stranded RNAs or DNAs, also known as aptamers, fold to create binding sites for ligand molecules. Specially engineered aptamers can bind to targeted plant hormones.
• Genetically encoded biosensors. Genetic reporters of plant hormones are designed based on the promoter regions of the targeted plant hormones.  

Figure 1. A schematic illustration of electrochemical biosensor setup for measurement in tomato root exudate (Novak, Napier et al. 2017).

Mass spectrometry-based methods are highly sensitive approaches that allow accurate identification and quantification of plant hormones.

• Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Gas chromatography (GC) is an efficient method for the detection and sorting of volatile organic compounds (VOC). When combined with mass spectrometry (MS), compositions of hormones can be separated and analyzed in a linear format (GC-MS), with high fidelity.
• Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Similar to GC-MS, the LC-MS technology combines high-throughput compound separation with ultra-sensitive detection methods, allowing the analysis of plant hormone molecules within a complicated biological matrix.  

Sample requirements:

• Cell sample. After sampling, centrifuge, remove the medium, put it in liquid nitrogen immediately, and store it at -80°C. The sample quality is recommended to be >1g, and 3 biological replicates should be prepared.
• Leaf, stem, flower samples. Put it in liquid nitrogen immediately after removal, and then store it at -80°C. The sample quality is recommended to be >1g, and 3 biological replicates need to be prepared.

With state-of-the-art technologies, as well as our teams of excellent scientists and experts, Lifeasible is devoted to providing our worldwide customers with the best services at competitive rates. Our high-capacity lab facilities allow hormone analysis of a wide range of plant species, at cell, tissue and whole plant levels. Moreover, we proudly offer our customers with one-stop services, covering all steps from experimental designing to data reporting. Welcome to contact us for questions, inquiries or collaborations.

Table 1 List of detectable plant hormones and related compounds at Lifeasible

NO.	Phytohormone	Abbreviation	Classification
1	Indole-3-acetic acid	IAA	Auxin
2	Methyl indole-3-acetate	ME-IAA	Auxin
3	Indole-3-butyric acid	IBA	Auxin
4	Indole-3-carboxaldehyde	ICAld	Auxin
5	Indole-3-carboxylic acid	ICA	Auxin
6	3-Indolepropionic acid	IPA	Auxin
7	1-O-Indol-3-ylacetylglucose	IAA-Glc	Auxin
8	Indoleacetyl glutamic acid	IAA-Glu	Auxin
9	3-Indoleacetonitrile	IAN	Auxin
10	Indole-3-acetyl-lglutamic acid dimethyl ester	IAA-Glu-diMe	Auxin
11	Indole-3-acetyl-L-leucine methyl ester	IAA-Leu-Me	Auxin
12	Indole-3-acetly-L-valine methyl ester	IAA-Val-Me	Auxin
13	Indole-3-acetyl glycine	IAA-Gly	Auxin
14	2-Oxindole-3-acetic acid	OxIAA	Auxin
15	Indole-3-acetyl-L-aspartic acid	IAA-Asp	Auxin
16	N-(3-Indolylacetyl)-L-leucine	IAA-Leu	Auxin
17	N-(3-Indolylacetyl)-L-valine	IAA-Val	Auxin
18	Indole-3-acetyl-L-phenylalanne methyle ester	IAA-Phe -Me	Auxin
19	Indole-3-acetyl-L-tryptophan	IAA-Trp	Auxin
20	3-Indoleacetamide	IAM	Auxin
21	Tryptamine	TRA	Auxin
22	Indole-3-lactic acid	ILA	Auxin
23	3-Indoleacrylic acid	IA	Auxin
24	N-(3-Indolylacetyl)-L-alanine	IAA-Ala	Auxin
25	L-Tryptophan	TRP	Auxin
26	N-(3-Indolylacetyl)-L-phenylalanine	IAA-Phe	Auxin
27	N6-Isopentenyladenine	IP	CK
28	trans-Zeatin	tZ	CK
29	cis-Zeatin	cZ	CK
30	Dihydrozeatin	DZ	CK
31	Isopentenyladenosine	IPR	CK
32	trans-Zeatin riboside	tZR	CK
33	Dihydrozeatin-7-glucoside	DHZ7G	CK
34	Dihydrozeatin ribonucleoside	DHZR	CK
35	cis-Zeatin riboside	cZR	CK
36	4-[[(9-beta-D-Glucopyranosyl-9H-purin-6-yl)amino]methyl]phenol	pT9G	CK
37	2-Chloro-trans-zeatin	2CltZ	CK
38	para-Topolin	pT	CK
39	meta-Topolin	mT	CK
40	meta-Topolin riboside	mTR	CK
41	ortho-Topolin	oT	CK
42	6-Benzyladenine	BAP	CK
43	6-Benzyladenosine	BAPR	CK
44	Kinetin	K	CK
45	Kinetin riboside	KR	CK
46	para-Topolin riboside	pTR	CK
47	ortho-Topolin riboside	oTR	CK
48	cis-Zeatin-9-glucoside	cZ9G	CK
49	N6-Isopentenyl-adenine-9-glucoside	IP9G	CK
50	N6-Isopentenyl-adenine-7-glucoside	IP7G	CK
51	trans-Zeatin-O-glucoside	tZOG	CK
52	Dihydrozeatin-O-glucoside riboside	DHZROG	CK
53	cis-Zeatin-O-glucoside riboside	cZROG	CK
54	meta-Topolin-9-glucoside (mT9G)	mT9G	CK
55	ortho-Topolin-9-glucoside	oT9G	CK
56	N6-Benzyladenine -9-glucoside	BAP9G	CK
57	N6-Benzyladenine-7-glucoside	BAP7G	CK
58	Kinetin-9-glucoside	K9G	CK
59	2-Methylthio-N6-isopentenyladenine	2MeSiP	CK
60	2-Methylthio-cis-zeatin	2MeScZ	CK
61	2-Methylthio-cis-zeatin riboside	2MeScZR	CK
62	2-Methylthio-N6-isopentenyladenosine	2MeSiPR	CK
63	Methyl jasmonate	MEJA	JA
64	Jasmonic acid	JA	JA
65	Dihydrojasmonic acid	H2JA	JA
66	Jasmonoyl-L-isoleucine	JA-ILE	JA
67	12-Oxophytodienoic acid	OPDA	JA
68	N-[(-)-Jasmonoyl]-(L)-phenalanine	JA-Phe	JA
69	N-[(-)-Jasmonoyl]-(L)-valine	JA-Val	JA
70	(±)-OPC-4	OPC-4	JA
71	(±)-OPC-6	OPC-6	JA
72	Salicylic acid	SA	SA
73	Salicylic acid 2-O-β-glucoside	SAG	SA
74	Abscisic acid	ABA	ABA
75	ABA-glucosyl ester	ABA-GE	ABA
76	Gibberellin A1	GA1	GA
77	Gibberellin A3	GA3	GA
78	Gibberellin A4	GA4	GA
79	Gibberellin A5	GA5	GA
80	Gibberellin A6	GA6	GA
81	Gibberellin A7	GA7	GA
82	Gibberellin A8	GA8	GA
83	Gibberellin A9	GA9	GA
84	Gibberellin A12	GA12	GA
85	Gibberellin A15	GA15	GA
86	Gibberellin A19	GA19	GA
87	Gibberellin A20	GA20	GA
88	Gibberellin A24	GA24	GA
89	Gibberellin A29	GA29	GA
90	Gibberellin A34	GA34	GA
91	Gibberellin A44	GA44	GA
92	Gibberellin A51	GA51	GA
93	Gibberellin A53	GA53	GA
94	1-Aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid	ACC	Ethylene
95	Brassinolide	BL	BRs
96	24-epi-Brassinolide	24-epiBL	BRs
97	28-Norbrassinolide	28-norBL	BRs
98	28-Homobrassinolide	28-homoBL	BRs
99	Castasterone	CS	BRs
100	6-Deoxocastasterone	6-deoxoCS	BRs
101	28-Norcastasterone	28-NorCS	BRs
102	28-Homocastasterone	28-HomoCS	BRs
103	6-Deoxo-24-epi-castasterone	6-Deoxo-24-epiCS	BRs
104	Typhasterol	TY	BRs
105	28-Norteasterone	28-norTE	BRs
106	Strigol	ST	SL
107	5-Deoxystrigol	5DS	SL
108	Melatonine	MLT	MLT