A new boronic acid reagent for the simultaneous determination of C27-, C28-, and C29-brassinosteroids in plant tissues by chemical labeling-assisted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are endogenous plant growth-promoting hormones affecting growth and development during the entire life cycle of plants. Naturally occurring BRs can be classified into C 27 -, C 28 -, or C 29 -BRs based on the nature of the alkyl groups occupying the C-24 position in the side chain of the 5a-cholestane carbon skeleton. However, while C 27 -BRs exhibit similar bioactivities to C 28 - and C 29 -BRs, the biosynthetic pathways of C 27 -BRs in plants have not yet been clearly characterized. In addition to a lack of biochemical and enzymatic evidence regarding the biosynthetic pathways of C 27 -BRs, even most of the intermediate compounds on their pathways have not been explored and identified due to the lower endogenous levels of C 27 -BRs. Therefore, the development of highly sensitive analytical methods is essential for studying the biosynthetic pathways and physiological functions of C 27 -BRs. Accordingly, this study establishes qualitative and quantitative methods for identifying and detecting C 27 -, C 28 -, and C 29 -BRs using a newly synthesized boronic acid reagent denoted as 2-methyl-4-phenylaminomethylphenylboronic acid (2-methyl-4-PAMBA) in conjunction with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Labeling with 2-methyl-4-PAMBA provides derivatives with excellent stability, and the detection sensitivities of BRs, particularly for C 27 -BRs, are dramatically improved. The limits of detection (with a signal-to-noise ratio of 3) for six BRs, including 2 C 27 -BRs (28-norCS and 28-norBL), 3 C 28 -BRs (CS, BL, and TY), and a single C 29 -BR (28-homoBL), are found to be 0.10–1.68 pg/mL after labeling with 2-methyl-4-PAMBA. Finally, the proposed analytical method is successfully applied for the detection of endogenous BRs in small mass samples of Oryza sativa seedlings, Rape flowers, Arabidopsis shoots, and Arabidopsis flowers. In addition, a method for profiling potential BRs in plants is also developed using LC-MS in multiple reaction monitoring scan mode assisted by 2-methyl-4-PAMBA and 2-methyl-4-PAMBA- d 5 labeling. The developed method is able to identify 10 potential BRs in a Rape flower extract. The proposed quantitative and qualitative methods established by 2-methyl-4-PAMBA labeling are helpful for facilitating an understanding of the physiological functions and biosynthetic pathways of BRs, particularly for C 27 -BRs. Graphical abstract