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Iron (Fe) speciation in xylem sap by XANES at a high brilliant synchrotron X-ray source: opportunities and limitations

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Abstract

The development of highly brilliant synchrotron facilities all around the world is opening the way to new research in biological sciences including speciation studies of trace elements in plants. In this paper, for the first time, iron (Fe) speciation in xylem sap has been assessed by X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy at the highly brilliant synchrotron PETRA III, beamline P06. Both standard organic Fe-complexes and xylem sap samples of Fe-deficient tomato plants were analyzed. The high photon flux provided by this X-ray synchrotron source allows on one side to obtain good XANES spectra in a reasonable amount of time (approx. 15 min for 200 eV scan) at low Fe concentrations (sub parts-per-million), while on the other hand may cause radiation damage to the sample, despite the sample being cooled by a stream of liquid nitrogen vapor. Standard Fe-complexes such as Fe(III)-succinate, Fe(III)-α-ketoglutarate, and Fe(III)-nicotianamine are somehow degraded when irradiated with synchrotron X-rays and Fe(III) can undergo photoreduction. Degradation of the organic molecules was assessed by HPLC-UV/Vis analyses on the same samples investigated by X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Fe speciation in xylem sap samples revealed Fe(III) to be complexed by citrate and acetate. Nevertheless, artifacts created by radiation damage cannot be excluded. The use of highly brilliant synchrotrons as X-ray sources for XAS analyses can dramatically increase the sensitivity of the technique for trace elements thus allowing their speciation in xylem sap. However, great attention must be paid to radiation damage, which can lead to biased results.

Instrumental set-up for XANES measurements; Fe K-edge XANES spectrum for a xylem sap sample showing the determined Fe-speciation; chromatographic profile of the xylem sap sample showing organic acid composition

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Acknowledgments

Research was supported by grants from Italian MIUR (FIRB-Programma “Futuro in Ricerca”), Free University of Bolzano (TN5056) and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (Rhizotyr—TN5218). The Authors would like to thank Dr. Melissa Denecke (INE, KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany) for her critical revision of the manuscript. Bjorn de Samber and Gerd Wellenreuther are acknowledged for their assistance with the cryo-stream system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126, Bari, Italy

    Roberto Terzano

  2. Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen/Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100, Bolzano, Italy

    Tanja Mimmo & Stefano Cesco

  3. Department of Analytical Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Bart Vekemans & Laszlo Vincze

  4. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Notkestrasse 85, 22603, Hamburg, Germany

    Gerald Falkenberg

  5. Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Udine, Via delle Scienze 206, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Nicola Tomasi, Magali Schnell Ramos & Roberto Pinton

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  1. Roberto Terzano
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Correspondence to Roberto Terzano.

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Terzano, R., Mimmo, T., Vekemans, B. et al. Iron (Fe) speciation in xylem sap by XANES at a high brilliant synchrotron X-ray source: opportunities and limitations. Anal Bioanal Chem 405, 5411–5419 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-6959-1

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