IDENTIFICATION OF PROTEINS IN BURKHOLDERIA SPECIES AND IN TICK NYMPHS

A mass spectrometry based proteomic approach has been applied in order to identify the proteins that are responsible for pathogenicity of Burkholderia pseudomallei.Methods were developed for the proteomic analysis of Burkholderia species using B. vietnamiensis G4, an opportunistic pathogen as the model organism. Mass spectrometry based proteomics approaches were used for the analysis of proteins extracted from 4 different cellular fractions of these bacteria. Proteins identified from pathogenic B. pseudomallei were compared with the non- pathogenic B. thailandensis and opportunistic pathogen B. vietnamiensis proteins. Ticks are vectors that can transmit disease causing pathogens one host to another. Application of mass spectrometric methods to identify the host blood components from tick vectors was investigated using tick nymphs. Using mass spectrometry based proteomics; host specific proteins like hemoglobin and immunoglobulin were identified from a single tick nymph analysis. Additional studies have examined the fatty acid profiles of rabbit and sheep blood fed tick nymphs using SPALDI mass spectrometry.