Auxins and Abscisic Acid

The group concentrates on the analytical chemistry of two classes of plant hormones: auxins and abscisic acid. Auxins play an important role in root growth and development, cell elongation, apical dominance and phototropism, geotropism and hydrotropism. Abscisic acid is a compound produced in plants in response to stress. It stimulates stomatal closure and affects seed germination, fruit ripening and defence against pathogens.

The group is developing methods allowing quantification of the main representatives of the above classes of plant hormone (indole-3-acetic acid and abscisic acid, respectively) as well as their metabolites. Analytical protocols used for the hormone quantification employ solid-phase extraction followed by immunoaffinity extraction. The latter method is based on the use of polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies and is characterized by a wide-range of specificity in relation to the studied derivatives of plant hormones. The final analysis is typically done by HPLC coupled to triple-quadrupole mass detection. The typical limit of detection is about 1 fmol per injection or lower.

Group Members
Jakub Rolčík
Veronika Turečková
Aleš Pěnčík