Quantification of photorespiratory intermediates by mass spectrometry-based approaches

Abstract

Photorespiration is an essential metabolic process in plants occurring via the oxygenase reaction of RuBisCO. In order to understand this process, it is essential to determine the amounts of intermediates involved. For this purpose we combined mass spectrometry-based approaches and the use of authentic standards for the quantification of photorespiratory intermediates. Here we describe protocols for the extraction and quantification of 2-phosphoglycolate (2PG) by LC-MS/MS and serine, glycine, glycolate, hydroxypyruvate, glyoxylate, and glycerate by GC-MS.