The MSPIRE research that I have engaged in develops a MALDI-MS method to spatially map changes in chemical composition throughout lignocelluosic biomass conversion into biofuel. The majority of the mass of biomass is found in the thick, secondary cell wall, which is composed of a complex arrangement of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Prior to tissue analysis, a MALDI-MS method for standards (e.g., microcrystalline cellulose, linear and branched xylans and lignin) was developed to optimize MALDI parameters, determine ions that are formed, as well as characterize collision-induced dissociation (CID) pathways. Data from the standard analyses were used to develop a direct MALDI linear ion trap MS imaging method for Populus wood tissue. The MS² images below illustrates the localization of an ion identified as cellulose in different regions of Populus stem. Particularly, the ion is localized in the secondary xylem and center of the pith, which is consistent with know composition of Populus stem. In addition, plotting two different fragment ions resulted in different images, suggesting tandem MS imaging can distinguish between two isobaric species. Future experiments will improve spatial resolution of MS images, correlate MALDI linear ion trap MS and MS² images with other imaging techniques, including SIMS, MALDI-ToF, optical microscopy with stains and ultraviolet microscopy, and determine relative abundance of cellulose in intact wood tissue sections.