Microbial Proteomics

Abstract

Proteomics is the large-scale and high-throughput study of proteins. A proteome is the population of all proteins expressed by the genome in a specific cell type, tissue or biological fluid at a particular time and under specific conditions. Any tissue, cell type or extracellular fluid is amenable to proteomic analysis. This chapter addresses the principles and practice of proteomics, focusing on microbial pathogens. An introduction to protein chemistry and analytical separation techniques is followed by a discussion of the technologies, approaches and applications of proteomics in the microbiology laboratory. Although the potential of proteomics for bacterial identification and characterisation remains to be fully realised, it is clear that this rapidly evolving science has already paved the way to aspects of cell biology and molecular pathology that were previously unattainable.