Dual-channel red fluorescent probe for detection of Cys/Hcy and GSH in plants

Cysteine (Cys), Glutathione (GSH) can resist the reactive oxygen species due to adversity and aging in plants. Thus, the specific detection of individual thiol in plants is very important. However, just a few have been used to discrimination of Cys/Hcy and GSH in vivo. Not to mention the discrimination detection for them in plants. In this work, we synthesized a potential promoting tandem reaction type fluorescent probe based on benzene-conjugated benzopylium ion and NBD-Cl. The probe could detect Cys/Hcy and GSH with high selectivity and low detection limit. More interesting, firstly we employed the probe to successfully detect Cys/Hcy and GSH in arabidopsis thaliana. Our research is useful for studying the conversion and metabolic pathways of thiols in plants.