MRI Consortium: Acquisition of LC-MS/MS Instrumentation for Undergraduate Research and Education

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With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Professor Elizabeth Stemmler from Bowdoin College and colleagues Patsy Dickinson, Dharni Vasudevan, Danielle Dube and Benjamin Gorske will acquire a liquid chromatograph-quadrupole, mass spectrometer with tandem capabilities and various accessories. The proposal will enhance research training and education at all levels, especially in areas such as (a) use of transcriptomics and peptidomics strategies to neuropeptide identification and to explore the role of hormonal cycles on differential neuromodulatory responses in crustaceans, (b) characterization of bacterial glycosylation, (c) studies of protein methylation, (d) characterization of transformations of molecules of importance to the environmental degradation of contaminants, and (e) development of methods to synthesize and characterize oligothioamides.Mass spectrometers (MS) are used to identify the chemical composition of a sample by measuring the mass of the molecular constituents in the sample after they are ionized and detected by the mass spectrometer. This instrument couples a high-resolution liquid chromatography system with the mass analysis ability of mass spectrometry. The liquid chromatograph separates mixtures into their molecular components. These components then flow into a mass spectrometer where their masses, and those of their fragments, are measured. This mass spectrometer has a special design that provides relatively high mass accuracy, sensitivity and resolution that allows detection and determination of the structure of molecules in a complex mixture. The instrumentation will be used not only for research but also in laboratory courses to train significant numbers of students in the use of this important analytical technique and for research and outreach activities with regional institutions such as Bates College, Colby College and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory.