Microwave supported hydrolysis prepares spores for proteomic analysis.

Rapid identification of spores in the environment has depended primarily on a family of small acid soluble proteins (SASPs) as biomarkers. However, SASP sequences and molecular masses are similar or identical in some critical cases. For example, some strains of , and cannot be distinguished from strains of based on SASPs. Consequently, additional or alternative biomarkers should be sought. In this study microwave-assisted hot acid hydrolysis was coupled with mass spectrometry as a potentially powerful approach to the rapid automatable characterization of spores. Hot acid provides lysis of the spores, Asp-selective hydrolysis of proteins, and peptides compatible with automated analysis of either peptide fingerprints or tandem mass spectra. Peptide biomarkers are compared here for a selection of spores, and peptides unique to each spore type are identified.