August 16, 2007
Developing disease resistance for new crops, accelerating
analytical services during grain harvest and transport and
identifying new alleles, or genes, for grain quality are some of
the benefits for agriculture of the first prOTOF 2000 mass
spectrometer in Western Australia.
The only one in Australia and one of only 30 in the world, this
new mass spectrometer has just been installed at the Western
Australia State
Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC) at Murdoch
University.
It can be used to identify and map biomarkers in biology, from
humans to plants and from disease analysis to pest
identification, and its applications will provide major benefits
in agricultural and biomedical research.
SABC Director, Professor Mike Jones, described the prOTOF 2000
as the world’s fastest and most accurate single stage MALDI-TOF
mass spectrometer.
“This equipment has many applications in biotechnology,
including high end protein analysis, biomarker discovery,
molecular diagnostics, biosecurity and commercial testing,” he
said.
“Its unique design allows it to accommodate different types of
samples and identify their molecular sizes with remarkable
accuracy.
“Previously cell and tissue imaging was not possible, but now we
can analyse tissues as well as extracts, which we will use, for
example, to develop new forms of resistance by looking at
host-pathogen interactions at a cellular level.
“We can examine how nematodes feed from host roots and change
their metabolism and this approach can also be used to study
viral and fungal infections,” Professor Jones said.
Saturn Biotech Managing Director, Adjunct Associate Professor,
Chris Florides said his company would use the new technology to
assist cereal breeders in their endeavours to breed more
profitable varieties for crops, such as wheat and barley.
“This instrument will also speed up service delivery for variety
purity testing of grains because it is 100 times faster than
previous models,” he said.
“In two days, for example, using the prOTOF 2000, we developed a
method to distinguish two wheat varieties that previously
appeared to have identical protein profiles.
“Crop variety identification and purity testing provides quality
assurance across the supply chain so that growers will know the
exact variety and purity of the seed they purchase and plant,”
Professor Florides said.
Proteomics International Managing Director, Dr Richard
Lipscombe, will use the Australian Research Council supported
technology for further protein analysis and biomarker discovery.
“Researchers at the University of Texas, Houston, identified
potential biomarkers for the presence of breast cancer in human
saliva using the prOTOF 2000, so the opportunities are
considerable,” he said.
“Our previous research mapped fish biomarkers to ensure what
consumers ate was not a cheap substitute, but this technology
takes us to the next step of identifying biomarkers for health
problems, such as diabetes and obesity,” Dr Lipscombe said.
Murdoch University Division of R&D, the Department of
Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Saturn Biotech Pty Ltd
and Curtin University of Technology matched funds from the
Australian Research Council to raise $500,000 for the equipment,
which complements existing SABC technologies.
Professor Jones also encouraged the Western Australian
government to support more infrastructure for biotechnology in
the State.
“It’s this type of new technology that keeps the SABC and
Australia at the forefront of research in agricultural
biotechnology,” he said.
“Having state of the art equipment, allows Western Australia to
be globally competitive.
“This is especially important when it comes to GM crops, which
will have to be grown worldwide to meet the rapidly increasing
world demand for food, fibre and biofuels.
‘The prOTOF 2000 will play a significant role in Western
Australia to help facilitate such developments,” Professor Jones
said. |
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