High resolution hybrid mass spectrometer with ion chromatography

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Metabolites are the result of the interaction between gene expression and the flux of substances into and out of a living organism. They define, together with proteins, the phenotype of an organism. Jointly with other omics-level technologies, metabolomics constitutes one of the pillars of systems biology. In combination with genetic approaches, such as genome-wide association studies, gene knockouts, or mis-expression of genes, metabolomics is crucial for the identification and functional association of to-date unknown genes, and for understanding the regulation of metabolism. Metabolomics requires the comprehensive high-throughput analysis of small molecules. Chromatographic separation hyphenated with mass spectrometric detection enables the routine and comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of complex analytes, such as the metabolites contained in plant or animal tissues. Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf is currently not set up for the metabolomic analysis of charged and highly polar metabolites, such as intermediates glycolysis, of the Calvin-Benson cycle, or the tricarboxylic acid cycle. This proposal is building the case for the purchase of a high-resolution ion chromatography/mass spectrometry system for the simultaneous quantitative and qualitative analysis of metabolites.