Assessing Metabolism and Interspecies Interactions in Microbial Symbioses and Microbial Communities via Metaproteomics

Manuel Kleiner
Assistant Professor
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology & Microbiomes and Complex Microbial Communities Cluster
North Carolina State University

Abstract
Metaproteomics refers to all high-throughput methods used to identify and quantify proteins in microbial communities to determine the metabolic pathways and physiological functions that are relevant under a given environmental condition. 

Initially, metaproteomics was a makeshift adaptation of proteomic methods used for single (pure-culture) organisms, but not for complex communities of uncultured organisms. Only recently have some research groups begun to develop dedicated metaproteomic approaches that provide new insights into microbial-community functioning.

Manuel Kleiner will give an overview of the state of the art in metaproteomics and use several examples of exciting discoveries to illustrate what kind of questions can be addressed with metapoteomics.

Kleiner will present two metaproteomic approaches developed only recently in his lab. The first provides a method to assess species biomass contributions in microbial communities. The second allows us to determine the stable carbon isotope composition of individual species in microbial communities, which can provide clues about the metabolic pathways and food sources used by an organism.

To develop these approaches into robust and reproducible tools, Kleiner used mock microbial communities for method development, testing, and validation. He will share lessons from using these mock communities.

More about Manuel Kleiner

Host: Frank Stewart

Event Details

Date/Time:

  • Thursday, October 19, 2017
    11:55 am - 12:55 pm

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  • Manuel Kleiner, North Carolina State University

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