Proteomics Facility
0077 Roy J. Carver Co-Laboratory
515-294-6473
12:00-1:00 Closed for lunch
By appointment/reservation.
Facility tours - Please contact Siquan Luo at 515-294-6473 or via
About Proteomics
Proteomes and proteomics Proteomics is a new frontier in biosciences, and the Plant Sciences Institute has developed a state-of-the-art proteomics facility to take leadership in this area. Proteomics will be instrumental in developing crops with improved agronomic traits, identifying pathogens and aiding in the defense against them, improving the nutritional quality of food products, and identifying high valued proteins in complex mixtures of proteins. The "proteome" is the collection of thousands of proteins that make up an organism or the individual cells of an organism. The proteome is even more complex than the transcriptome, all of the RNAs encoded by the genome. This is because multiple forms of a protein can be produced from a single gene and protein levels vary over a wide range; from just a few to several million molecules of a single protein species per cell. A given protein may have more than one function and frequently operates as part of a complex. In addition, the functions of many proteins are not yet known.
Modus Operandi
The Proteomics Facility will provide as much hands-on accessibility as practical while still maintaining efficient use of the instrumentation. All sample processing will be done by individual researchers in their labs or in the Protein Facility (located in the Molecular Biology building) with advice and training by the Protein Facility for 2D gel electrophoresis and by the Proteomics Facility for other techniques. Some equipment will be made available for researchers to use after receiving suitable training. Training classes will be provided by the Proteomics Facility on these instruments as needed. Data analysis will be conducted by individual investigators with assistance and training from the Proteomics Facility. The Typhoon laser scanner will be available for individuals to use for gel scanning. A data analysis workstation will be available in the Proteomics Facility containing the programs required for 2D-gel analysis, interpretation of mass spectra, and database searching.