Need some critic over LC/MS method

[mariia_maak]

Hello!

Can one quantify primary metabolites in microbial biomass by measuring amino acids (for quantifying proteins), free fatty acids (lipids), glucose (glycogen), ribose (RNK)? 

Thanks,
Mariia

[CharonY]

A) measuring free amino acids does not allow you to quantify proteins. You'd have to measure proteins to do so.

B) You can measure the various metabolites (though I am not sure why you picked those particular selection of sugars), but you would need different methods. Fatty acids used to be a bit easier on GC/MS but newer columns are decent at separating those, too.

 

 

[mariia_maak]

Dear CharonY,

Thanks for your response!

Could you please give me some links/explanations so I can understand why it is a wrong approach.

[CharonY]

Do you have any specific questions that you want to address? Otherwise I would recommend you to look at text books, such as Kromidas: "The HPLC‐MS Handbook for Practitioners". Depending on your reading level you could also start with basic lectures that you can probably find online and/or wikipedia entries.