Premier GC/Q-TOF with headspace and SPME analysis

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The main research topic of the Ischebeck lab is the study of lipid droplets, subcellular structures that contain hydrophobic compounds and proteins embedded in the surrounding phospholipid monolayer. The study of the role of lipid droplets in metabolism (especially sterol metabolism), and the biochemical analysis of lipid droplet-associated enzymes of unknown function requires sensitive analytical tools. Biotechnological approaches to turn lipid droplets into factories and storage depots for terpenoids also needs possibilities to measure precursors and products. Furthermore, the Ischebeck lab has a strong track record of collaborative projects, where it provided gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based analytics to groups of the plant, microbiology and neuroscience field. The recent transfer of the Ischebeck lab to the WWU Münster also sparked interest in these analytics for several projects at the faculty. The Ischebeck lab collected a lot of experience in GC-MS analytics but since the transfer of the group to the WWU, no state-of-the art gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer system is available at the institute or the location. However, a direct access to such an instrument is required for the projects of the lab and the collaborative efforts. The gas chromatograph-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometer would provide highly sensitive analytics of hydrophobic substances both in targeted and untargeted approaches. The exact determination of the molecular mass of metabolites and their fragments would help to identify substances. By the addition of the headspace and solid-phase-microextraction modules, analysis of volatiles is strongly enhanced. Through derivatization, it is also possible to identify and absolutely quantify polar substances including sugars, amino acids, and other central metabolites. In conclusion, the instrument would provide highly sensitive and quantitative measurements of a large variety of compounds, strongly increasing the research possibilities of the lab and the faculty of biology.