Simultaneous Quantification of Trehalose and Trehalose 6-Phosphate by Hydrophilic Interaction Chromatography/Electrospray Accurate Mass Spectrometry with Application in Non-Targeted Metabolomics

High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was coupled with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) to simultaneously quantify trehalose and trehalose 6-phosphate without derivatization or sample preparation. The use of full scan mode and exact mass analysis also makes it possible to carry out metabolomic analyses as well as semi-quantification. In addition, the use of different clusters in negative mode makes it possible to compensate for deficiencies in linearity and inerrant saturation at time-of-flight detectors. The method has been approved and validated for different matrices, yeasts, and bacteria, and has shown differentiation between bacteria as a function of growth temperatures.