SUMMARY :
The objective is to develop a new concept for speciation analysis of metal non-covalent complexes in sub-microlitre samples, such as, e.g., plant sap and intracellular liquids. It is going to be based on on-chip chromatography followed by nanoelectrospray (20 nL/min) mass spectrometry which should allow the detection of the metal species present with the molecular isotopic resolution owing to the instrumental capabilities of the recently acquired, in the frame of the MARSS-Equipex project, high resolution (up to 1,000,000) FT Orbitrap MS. High accuracy and high precision MS data will serve for the identification of species in the largely unexplored field of metallomics - metallometabolomics. The particular novelty is the use metal isotopic spikes in molecular MS and isotope ratio measurements allowing the quantification. In addition to the method development, the fundamental research aspect concerns an insight into metal-organic ligand equilibria in biological systems and the control of the species stability during microchip chromatography.
The experimental work will be based on initial model studies investigating the chromatographic and ionization behavior of selected elements (including Fe, Zn, Mo and Ni) with the organic ligands commonly found in plant saps. The results will serve for the development for qualitative and quantitative metallometabolomics of these elements in plant samples in the second part of the thesis. The broadening of the elaborated methodology towards other metals and/or other biological systems (e.g., bacterial or animal) is expected at the third and final phase of the project.
KEYWORDS
metallometabolomics, high resolution mass spectrometry, chip-based nanoinjection bio-inorganic chemistry
SILLS REQUIRED:
a sound knowledge and background in general analytical chemistry, chromatography and mass spectrometry, basic laboratory skills (e.g., in sample preparation), communication skills, fluency in English, interest in life sciences