TY - JOUR A1 - Lauer, Franziska A1 - Diehn, Sabrina A1 - Seifert, Stephan A1 - Kneipp, Janina A1 - Sauerland, V. A1 - Barahona, C. A1 - Weidner, Steffen T1 - Multivariate analysis of MALDI imaging mass spectrometry data of mixtures of single pollen grains N2 - Mixtures of pollen grains of three different species (Corylus avellana, Alnus cordata, and Pinus sylvestris) were investigated by matrixassisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF imaging MS). The amount of pollen grains was reduced stepwise from > 10 to single pollen grains. For sample pretreatment, we modified a previously applied approach, where any additional extraction steps were omitted. Our results show that characteristic pollen MALDI mass spectra can be obtained from a single pollen grain, which is the prerequisite for a reliable pollen classification in practical applications. MALDI imaging of laterally resolved pollen grains provides additional information by reducing the complexity of the MS spectra of mixtures, where frequently peak discrimination is observed. Combined with multivariate statistical analyses, such as principal component analysis (PCA), our approach offers the chance for a fast and reliable identification of individual pollen grains by mass spectrometry. KW - MALDI Imaging MS KW - Pollen grains KW - Multivariate Statistics KW - Hierarchical cluster analysis KW - Principal component analysis PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13361-018-2036-5 SN - 1044-0305 SN - 1879-1123 VL - 29 IS - 11 SP - 2237 EP - 2247 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-45607 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -