Project description:Marine sediments harbor highly diverse microbial communities that contribute to global biodiversity and play essential roles in the ecosystem functioning. However, the metaproteome of marine sediments remains poorly understood. Extracting proteins from environmental samples can be challenging, especially in marine sediments due to their complex matrix. Few studies have been conducted on improving protein extraction methods from marine sediments. To establish an effective protein extraction workflow for clay-rich sediments, we compared, combined and improved several protein extraction methods. The presented workflow includes blocking of protein binding sites on sediment particles with high concentrations of amino acids, effective cell lysis via ultra-sonication, and the electro-elution and simultaneous fractionation of proteins. Using this workflow, we were able to recover 100% of the previously added Escherichia coli proteins from the sediment.
