GC-EI-TOF-MS analysis of in vivo carbon-partitioning into soluble metabolite pools of higher plants by monitoring isotope dilution after 13CO2 labelling

The monitoring of isotope dilution after 13CO2 labelling was optimized using Arabidopsis thaliana Col-0 or Oryza sativa IR57111 plants, which were maximally labelled with 13C. Carbon isotope dilution was evaluated for short (2 h) and long-term (3 days) kinetic measurements of metabolite pools in roots and shoots. Both approaches were shown to enable the characterization of metabolite specific partitioning processes and kinetics. A current experimental design for the kinetic metabolic phenotyping of higher plants using GC-EI-TOF-MS profiling analysis is proposed.