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Mass spectrometry of DNA mixtures by laser ablation from frozen aqueous solution
Author(s) -
Schieltz David M.,
Chou ChauWen,
Luo CongWen,
Thomas Robert M.,
Williams Peter,
Becker C. H.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.1290061009
Subject(s) - chemistry , aqueous solution , mass spectrometry , laser ablation , chromatography , dna , ablation , laser , analytical chemistry (journal) , organic chemistry , biochemistry , aerospace engineering , optics , physics , engineering
We report time‐of‐fight mass spectra of test mixtures of six single‐stranded DNA segments. The segments range in size from 8 to 60 nucleotides (molecular weight range 2413 to 18 602 Da). The best mass spectra were obtained by pulsed laser ablation of thin frozen films of an aqueous solution of the mixture from an oxidized copper substrate. These mass spectra are dominated by the molecular‐ion peak for each DNA segment, and show little evidence of fragmentation, peak broadening or cluster formation. In contrast, mass spectra obtained using UV laser ablation from an anthranilic acid matrix yield broad peaks with evidence of fragmentation, and DNA segments longer than 26 nucleotides are difficult to detect.