Proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of Rhizobium

When we began the proteomic project with R. etli the genomic sequence was not available. Now, with the finished sequence, we also extended the analysis to the Sinorhizobium meliloti genome. To date, applying the 2D polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis technique (2D-PAGE) we have analyzed several physiological conditions of these
organisms such as growth in rich medium, minimal medium (6, 12, 24 hours), symbiosis (early to late stages), biofilm formation and stress (heat shock and oxidative stress). Utilizing the mass spectrometer MALDI-TOF we have identified in the gels around 1200 proteins. We are
constructing the metabolic charts of these conditions and soon will be available to the scientific communitiy on the web. On the other hand, we have constructed the first microarray in Mexico of a complete replicon, that of the symbiotic plasmid from R. etli CFN42,
the type strain. Currently, we are assaying with the genomic microarray of that strain in the free living and symbiotic conditions.
Another of our projects is the annotation of the Sinorhizobium meliloti metabolome (SinoCyc) with the use of the PathwayTools software.