Quantitative Detection of Inositol Hexakisphosphate (InsP6) in Crop Plants Using Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (PAGE)

Inositol phosphates are essential for cell development and signaling in all living organisms. Inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP6) is the most abundant phosphoinositol in both plants and animals. While the concentration of inorganic phosphorous (Pi) is often limited in soil, some plants overcome this limitation by creating a phosphate reservoir that serves as a source of Pi during phosphate deficiency. Although this strategy benefits plant development and signaling under adverse environmental conditions, excessive accumulation of Pi in crop plants has raised serious concerns about its toxicity and ill effects on human health. Consumption of crop plants with high InsP6 content or food products made from these crops is found to reduce nutrient intake significantly by way of chelating essential metal cations in human and livestock fed by such plants. Therefore, it is necessary to determine InsP6 contents in crop plants. Several methods have been developed for the screening and detection of InsP6 in plants. These detection methods however, are complex, labor-intensive, and often provide inaccurate results. We have developed a fast, reliable, and cost-effective method for the detection and quantification of InsP6 in plants using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) with potential applications in industry, quality control labs, and research projects.