Extraction and Quantification of Plant Hormones and RNA from Pea Axillary Buds

The quantification of plant hormones and related gene expression is essential to improve the understanding of the molecular regulation of plant growth and development. However, plant hormone quantification is still challenging due to extremely low endogenous levels and high chemical diversity. In this study, we present a convenient extraction protocol that enables the simultaneous extraction of both phytohormones and RNA from the same sample in a small quantity (approximately 10 mg). Using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS), this protocol provides a method to quantify 13 phytohormones and their derivatives from four classes (cytokinin, auxin, abscisic acid, and gibberellin) at the speed of 14 min per sample. Keywords: Abscisic acid; Auxin; Cytokinin; Gibberellin; Pea axillary buds; Phytohormone and RNA extraction; Phytohormone quantification; UPLC–MS/MS.