Ribosomal protein library of different microbial species

Ribosomal proteins are often
investigated for their structural and functional roles in ribosome function.
This is of particular importance given that an ensemble of tens of ribosomal
proteins cooperatively help constitute the complex molecular dance during
protein translation. But, what is less often known is the phylogenetic
significance of ribosomal proteins. For example, in an approach named mass
spectrometry enabled microbial identification, ribosomal proteins could serve
as biomarkers for peaks in mass spectrum of microbial whole cells since they
are generally of high abundance in a cell. Known as a proteome database search
approach where biomarker mass peaks are actively sought to help identify a
microorganism, building of a comprehensive library of ribosomal proteins from
different microbial species is a must. This work sought to provide the first
steps towards this goal by collating a catalogue of ribosomal proteins from
different microbial species from bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. Each set of ribosomal
proteins from a specific microbial species are labelled with the name of the
species that help in downstream identification process. Besides protein name
and amino acid sequence, each entry in the library also comprises molecular
weight, number of residues, and nucleotide sequence of the ribosomal proteins,
where molecular weight is critical for annotating biomarker mass peaks.
Identification of biomarker mass peaks thus identify a microbial species.
Overall, use of proteome database search approach for mass spectrometry-based
microbial identification is hampered by lack of suitable open-source ribosomal
protein database. Effort outlined in this abstract hope to kickstart the effort
to collate a comprehensive ribosomal protein library of different microbial
species in bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes to help improve adoption of the
fast and straightforward approach of using mass spectrometry for routine
identification of common microorganisms in research and clinical settings.