Liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) determination of phase II metabolites of the mycotoxin zearalenone in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

The biotransformation products of zearalenone, a Fusarium mycotoxin, were elucidated using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. After treatment of plant seedlings with 50 µM zearalenone, both the liquid media and the plant extracts were analysed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). An array of 17 different metabolites, most prominently glucosides, malonylglucosides, di-hexose- and hexose–pentose disaccharides of zearalenone, and α- and β-zearalenol, were detected in the samples. Time courses for the different zearalenone metabolites were recorded and they give a closer insight into the metabolism kinetics. A scheme proposing the zearalenone metabolism in A. thaliana is given. The aspect of food safety regarding the (potential) occurrence of masked mycotoxins in agricultural commodities is discussed.

Keywords:

• Mycotoxins
• conjugated mycotoxins
• masked mycotoxins
• zearalenone
• metabolism
• mass spectrometry
• Arabidopsis thaliana

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Gerhard Adam for scientific support. They also thank the Austrian Genome Research programme (GEN-AU), the Christian Doppler Society, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF Project No. P16410) and the Lower Austrian Government for funding.