Preliminary studies on selenium-containing proteins in Brassica juncea by size exclusion chromatography and fast protein liquid chromatography coupled to ICP-MS

An approach for screening and resolving selenium-containing plant proteins was developed based on the combination of sample preparation and multi-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled to ICP-MS. Different protein extraction protocols were investigated. A 24 h dodecylsulfate-mediated protein extraction in a sonication bath followed by acetone precipitation was found to be optimal. The use of different protein precipitate solubilizing agents (sodium dodecyl sulfate media and Tris-HCl buffer) demonstrates possible fractionation of the selenium-containing proteins. Selenium-containing protein screening and fractionation were carried out by means of SEC-ICP-MS. High molecular weight selenium containing proteins were solubilized with a sodium dodecyl sulfate-containing buffer, whereas the low molecular weight compounds were released into a Tris-HCl buffer. Size exclusion chromatography-fast protein liquid chromatography coupled to ICP-MS allowed separation and detection of several selenium-containing proteins in Se-supplemented wild type Brassica juncea plant, a fast growing selenium accumulator.