Metaproteomics

Metaproteomics (also Community Proteomics, Environmental Proteomics, or Community Proteogenomics) is an umbrella term for experimental approaches to study all proteins in microbial communities and microbiomes from environmental sources. Metaproteomics is used to classify experiments that deal with all proteins identified and quantified from complex microbial communities. Metaproteomics approaches are comparable to gene-centric environmental genomics, or metagenomics. The term "metaproteomics" was proposed by Francisco Rodríguez-Valera to describe the genes and/or proteins most abundantly expressed in environmental samples. The term was derived from "metagenome". Wilmes and Bond proposed the term "metaproteomics" for the large-scale characterization of the entire protein complement of environmental microbiota at a given point in time. At the same time, the terms "microbial community proteomics" and "microbial community proteogenomics" are sometimes used interchangeably for different types of experiments and results. Metaproteomics allows for scientists to better understand organisms' gene functions, as genes in DNA are transcribed to mRNA which is then translated to protein. Gene expression changes can therefore be monitored through this method. Furthermore, proteins represent cellular activity and structure, so using metaproteomics in research can lead to functional information at the molecular level. Metaproteomics can also be used as a tool to assess the composition of a microbial community in terms of biomass contributions of individual members species in the community and can thus complement approaches that assess community composition based on gene copy counts such as 16S rRNA gene amplicon or metagenome sequencing. The first proteomics experiment was conducted with the invention of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE). The 1980s and 1990s saw the development of mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry based proteomics.