A comparison of labeling and label-free mass spectrometry-based proteomics approaches.

The proteome of the recently discovered bacterium Methylocella silvestris has been characterized using three profiling and comparative proteomics approaches. The organism has been grown on two different substrates enabling variations in protein expression to be identified. The results obtained using the experimental approaches have been compared with respect to number of proteins identified, confidence in identification, sequence coverage and agreement of regulated proteins. The sample preparation, instrumental time and sample loading requirements of the differing experiments are compared and discussed. A preliminary screen of the protein regulation results for biological significance has also been performed.