Geocheminar fall-2021

Position-specific carbon isotope ratios within amino acids are expected to serve as detailed tracers of biogeochemical and ecological processes, but remain largely unexplored in environmental samples due to methodological limitations. This talk will describe the first Orbitrap-based measurements of natural-abundance, position-specific carbon isotope variation in an amino acid isolated from a biological matrix. I will present a method optimized for the precise characterization of isotope ratios within serine and explore an application for probing photorespiration and serine metabolism in plants. I will also discuss the potential for generalizing these approaches to other amino acids and organic structures in natural samples, paving the way for novel isotope proxies and applications.