CHAP’s team at CABI is focusing on the maintenance, by storage under liquid nitrogen, of collected microbial (particularly fungal) threats to major UK crops. Part of this capability is a MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer, originally purchased for characterisation and quality control of material going into and out from the National Reference Collection.
Since the commissioning of the spectrometer, early in 2017, CABI scientists at Egham have been developing new sample-preparation and data-analysis methods to simplify the workflow and to expand the usefulness of the mass spectrometer within CHAP and CABI.
These efforts have, so far, resulted in three peer-reviewed publications (details below). Another three papers are currently submitted and under peer review, and a further four are in preparation.
Anyone interested in collaborative opportunities within CHAP using this MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer should contact either Mike Reeve (M.Reeve@cabi.org) or Alan Buddie (A.Buddie@cabi.org).