LC-MS/MS Mass Spectrometer

• Subject Area: Plant Sciences
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 435681637

My research focuses on understanding the process and mechanism of plant adaptation to environmental stresses. As most of the plant-environment interactions are mediated by chemical compounds, it is indispensable for my research activities to quantitatively analyze them. Currently, we are working on four research projects, all require the planned instruments - a highly sensitive, selective and high-throughput screening enabled UHPLC-Triple Quadrupole mass-spectrometer. Project 1: Real-time plant evolution in a multitrophic community. In this project, we will use the instrument to quantify phytohormones involved in plant-herbivore-microbe interactions. Project 2: Plant adaptation to pesticides. In this project the instrument will be used to both quantify phytohormones and to monitor herbicide levels, as well as their degradation by the plant. Project 3: Ecological pleiotropy and the evolution of herbivory-induced plant defenses in tomato. Here, the instrument will be used to quantify metabolic signaling involved in herbivory-induced defenses and flower development. Project 4: Transgenerational priming of stress-responses in the giant duckweed. The instrument will be used to investigate the defense metabolites, their metabolic pathways and regulators (phytohormones). Together with the established tools in quantitative genetics and population genomics, the planned instrument will be a cornerstone of our basic infrastructure that is required for all of the ongoing and upcoming research projects.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: LC/MS/MS Mass Spectrometer
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Universität Münster
• Leader: Professor Shuqing Xu, Ph.D.