Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Mass Spectrometry Imaging and its Development for Plant Protein Imaging

Abstract

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) uses the power of high resolution time of flight mass spectrometry coupled to the raster of laser shots across the cut surface of tissues to provide new insights into the spatial distribution of biomolecules within biological tissues. We consider the history of this technique in animals and plants and discuss the potential for analysis of proteins by this technique in plants. We discuss the bottleneck of protein biomarker identification from MALDI-MSI and alternative approaches to address this problem.

The article is published online in Plant Methods and is free to access.