Separation and Analysis of Boron Isotope in High Plant by Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

Qingcai Xu,Yuliang Dong,Aide Sun,Huayu Zhu

doi:10.1155/2015/364242

Abstract

Knowledge of boron and its isotope in plants is useful to better understand the transposition and translocation of boron within plant, the geochemical behavior in the interface between soil and plant, and the biogeochemical cycle of boron. It is critical to develop a useful method to separate boron from the plant for the geochemical application of boron and its isotope. A method was developed for the extraction of boron in plant sample, whose isotope was determined by thermal ionization mass spectrometry. The results indicated that this method of dry ashing coupled with two-step ion-exchange chromatography is powerful for the separation of boron in plant sample with large amounts of organic matters completely. The ratios of boron isotope composition in those plant tissue samples ranged from −19.45‰ to +28.13‰ (total range: 47.58‰) with a mean value of 2.61 ± 11.76‰ SD. The stem and root isotopic compositions were lower than those in flower and leaf. The molecular mechanism of boron isotope may be responsible for the observed variation of boron isotopic composition and are considered as a useful tool for the better understanding of boron cycling process in the environment and for the signature of living systems.

Highlights

Boron (B) is a critical micronutrient in the growth of plant, which was undoubtedly considered as a part of the structure in the cell wall [1,2,3]
Most attention has been given to the B loss and subsequent isotope fractionation in dry ashing and two-step ion-exchange chromatography in biological samples [19]
The results indicated that the recovery of B in the twostep ion-exchange chromatography reached to 100%, which means there is no B loss in the process

Summary

Introduction

Boron (B) is a critical micronutrient in the growth of plant, which was undoubtedly considered as a part of the structure in the cell wall [1,2,3]. Park and Schlesinger [4] reported that most B is fixed into cell wall and is not recycled internally once used by plant, but some B would be emitted to atmosphere in plant aerosol or during the biomass burning. The global uptake of B by plant from soils can be calculated as 4.5 Tg B/yr [4]. All of these indicated that the cycling of B and the equilibrium of B isotope in the process between plant and soil would be changed

Methods

Results

Conclusion