Objective To date, substantial effort has been devoted to characterize the microbial communities in environmental samples, to understand the role of individual microbes and to unravel the key processes controlling the functioning of various ecosystems. Several culture-based methods and culture-independent DNA-based techniques have been developed for the assessment of microbial diversity, but these have some serious disadvantages (inefficient, laborious, slow, not informative about microorganisms function). Although these approaches enable the phylogenetic analysis of microbial communities, they do not necessary tell us what individual microorganisms can do and if they play any role in ecosystem functioning. The analysis of messenger-RNA has been suggested as an alternative approach for the retrieval of useful information about cell’s major activities, but mRNA molecules degrade very rapidly and their analysis is usually problematic. In the last few years, there has been increasing interest in the potential applications of proteomics in the fields of environmental chemistry and ecology. Recently, proteomics opened a new avenue for the study of microorganisms in the different environmental compartments and the elucidation of their role in biogeochemical processes. Considering that proteins are the end products of gene expression, the identification and characterization of proteinaceous molecules in environmental matrices can provide information not only for the processes taking place but also for the identity of the active microbial species. The key objective of this proposed research project is to develop/optimize an appropriate proteomic workflow that will be properly tailored toward mass-spectrometry based characterization of proteins/peptides in complex environmental matrices. More importantly, the applicability and efficiency of the developed method will be evaluated in a variety of environmental samples (e.g. soils, sediments, aerosols, etc). Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomicsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiology Keywords aerosols environment environmental chemistry environmental proteomics instrumental analysis microorganisms proteins sediment soil water Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-IOF-2008 - Marie Curie Action: "International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-IOF-2008 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IOF - International Outgoing Fellowships (IOF) Coordinator PANEPISTIMIO KRITIS EU contribution € 165 512,01 Address UNIVERSITY CAMPUS GALLOS 74100 Rethimno Greece See on map Region Νησιά Αιγαίου Κρήτη Ρέθυμνο Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Eva Michelidaki (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data