Experts on Metaproteomics Meet on 8 and 9 February 2016 at the Max Planck Institute Magdeburg
Analyzing and classifying proteins: for a better understanding of microbial communities in medicine and the environment.
From 8 to 9 February 2016, about fifty experts and junior scientists will meet at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems in Magdeburg for a symposium on metaproteomics, the protein analysis of microbial communities. The researchers will exchange information on the research area progress and applications in the fields of medicine and environmental technology, as well as current issues in bioinformatics and modeling.
Microbial communities can be found everywhere on earth, for example, in the human body, in soil, or in biomass from wastewater treatment plants and biogas plants.
In order to examine the function and the interaction between microbial communities, the science branch of metaproteomics was developed as a complement to metagenomics.
The research area is analogous in structure to genomics (deciphering genes, the construction plan of an organism) and proteomics (decryption of proteins and the study of the function and interaction of these "nano-components" and "nano-machines" of a cell). In the past decade, this field of research has grown tremendously and has already helped science to better understand complex microbial communities and their importance to health and the environment.
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems Magdeburg and the Institute of Process Engineering at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg have, alongside experimental procedures in the laboratory, developed a special software called MetaProteomeAnalyzer. In addition to the usual identification of the microbial proteins, this software makes it possible to perform a phylogenetic and functional classification. Thus, researchers can determine the contribution of individual organisms to the function of the microbial community.
In addition to numerous lectures by renowned international scientists, a workshop involving the introduction to the operation of this software will be available at the symposium.
(Source: MPI Magdeburg/Bildquelle: MPI Magdeburg / Bastian Ehl)