Identification of the tri-Al tricitrate complex in Plantago almogravensis by hydrophilic interaction LC with parallel ICP-MS and electrospray Orbitrap MS/MS detection

The identification of the ligands binding Al is essential to understand the mechanisms by which plants detoxify Al internally. However, studies concerning the speciation of Al have been frustrated by its complex chemistry. This work describes the identification of the tri-Al tricitrate (Al(3)cit(3)) complex in Plantago almogravensis, encompassing an integrated mass spectrometry approach based on hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) and parallel detection by ICP-MS and ESI-MS/MS. This work also reports that both Al and Fe are bound by tricitrate, sometimes simultaneously, and the consequences of this finding are discussed. Of the complexes separated by size exclusion chromatography, Al(3)cit(3) is the most stable occurring in P. almogravensis as it was the only one recovered after HILIC. This approach provided new information on the mechanism of Al detoxification in P. almogravensis, namely that Al is bound by the organic acid citrate and that the relative concentration of the detected complexes is affected by the organ type and internal Al concentration, and has potential for studying the speciation of Al in less tolerant plants.