Current analytical methods for plant auxin quantification – A review

Abstract

Plant hormones, and especially auxins, are low molecular weight compounds highly involved in the control of plant growth and development. Auxins are also broadly used in horticulture, as part of vegetative plant propagation protocols, allowing the cloning of genotypes of interest. Over the years large efforts have been put in the development of more sensitive and precise methods of analysis and quantification of plant hormone levels in plant tissues. Although analytical techniques have evolved and new methods have been implemented, sample preparation is still the limiting step of auxin analysis. In this review, the current methods of auxin analysis are discussed. Sample preparation procedures, including extraction, purification and derivatization, are reviewed and compared. The different analytical techniques, ranging from chromatographic and mass spectrometry methods to immunoassays and electrokinetic methods, as well as other types of detection are also discussed. Considering that auxin analysis mirrors the evolution in analytical chemistry, the number of publications describing new and/or improved methods is always increasing and we considered appropriate to update the available information. For that reason, this article aims to review the current advances in auxin analysis, and thus only reports from the past 15 years will be covered.