Methods for the Analysis of Polyphosphate in the Life Sciences

Analytical Chemistry, vol. 92, pp. 4167–4176

Abstract

Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) is the polymer of orthophosphate and can be found in all living organisms. For polyP characterization, one or more of six parameters are of interest: the molecular structure (linear, cyclic, or branched), the concentration, the average chain length, the chain length distribution, the cellular localization, and the cation composition. Here, the merits, limitations, and critical parameters of the state-of-the-art methods for the analysis of the six parameters from the life sciences are discussed. With this contribution, we aim to lower the entry barrier into the analytics of polyP, a molecule with prominent, yet often incompletely understood, contributions to cellular function.

Authors 3

1. Jonas Johannes Christ Aachen Institute of Applied Microbiology - iAMB

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Applied Microbiology−iAMB, Aachen Biology and Biotechnology−ABBt, Worringer Weg 1, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Sabine Willbold

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Central Institute for Engineering, Electronics and Analytics, Analytics (ZEA-3), Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, D-52428 Jülich, Germany

3. Lars M. Blank corresponding Aachen Institute of Applied Microbiology - iAMB

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Applied Microbiology−iAMB, Aachen Biology and Biotechnology−ABBt, Worringer Weg 1, RWTH Aachen University, D-52074 Aachen, Germany