Soil and leaf litter metaproteomics—a brief guideline from sampling to understanding

Katharina M. Keiblinger, Stephan Fuchs, Sophie Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Katharina Riedel, Gerard Muyzer
2016 FEMS Microbiology Ecology  
One sentence summary: The presented review provides an overview of the problems that may arise during the various soil and litter metaproteomic analyses steps and summarizes our current knowledge on possible solutions strategies. ABSTRACT The increasing application of soil metaproteomics is providing unprecedented, in-depth characterization of the composition and functionality of in situ microbial communities. Despite recent advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry, soil metaproteomics
more » ... l suffers from a lack of effective and reproducible protein extraction protocols and standardized data analyses. This review discusses the opportunities and limitations of selected techniques in soil-, and leaf litter metaproteomics, and presents a step-by-step guideline on their application, covering sampling, sample preparation, extraction and data evaluation strategies. In addition, we present recent applications of soil metaproteomics and discuss how such approaches, linking phylogenetics and functionality, can help gain deeper insights into terrestrial microbial ecology. Finally, we strongly recommend that to maximize the insights environmental metaproteomics may provide, such methods should be employed within a holistic experimental approach considering relevant aboveground and belowground ecosystem parameters.
doi:10.1093/femsec/fiw180 pmid:27549116 pmcid:PMC5026301 fatcat:inxu4czxtzcbvjw7v43egtstze