Stereospecific analysis and mass spectrometry of triacylglycerols fromarabidopsis thaliana (L.) heynh. columbia seed

Arabidopsis thaliana continues to be an excellent model organism for studying plant molecular genetics and biochemistry. In particular, the generation and analysis of mutant lines has facilitated the study of fatty acid biosynthesis, lipid bioassembly and the regulation of these processes. In view of its importance in understanding the pathways specific to seed storage lipid biosynthesis, we report here, for the first time, stereospecific and mass spectral analyses of the triacylglycerols present in A. thaliana (L.) Heynh. Columbia wild‐type seed. The use of NH 4 + ‐chemical‐ionization mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry is described as a powerful technique in analyzing even trace amounts of individual triacylglycerol species.