High Throughput Multi-Elemental Profiling of Plant Samples with the 4200 MP-AES

There is currently an increasing need for high-throughput, easy-to-use, multielemental analytical techniques, for two main reasons: 1. Genetic and genomic approaches require the analyses of several plant organs (roots, leaves, seeds/fruits) from multiple genotypes (natural accessions, mutant collections…) growing on different environmental conditions, generating large quantities of samples, 2. Plants often experience multiple stresses (water deficit and salt stress, Fe/Zn/Mn deficiencies on calcareous soils) that will affect simultaneously several elements that, in some cases interact biologically, requiring systematic multi-elemental analyses. Microwave Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy has rapidly emerged as a well-suited technology for analytical laboratories that typically do not have strong expertise and manpower for mass spectrometry-based techniques (ICP-MS for instance). This application note describes the sample preparation procedure and analytical method used to determine the concentration of up to 14 elements in several types of plant organs (roots, leaves, seeds) from different plant species.