With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI), the Chemistry Research Instrumentation and Facilities (CRIF) and the Chemical Measurement and Imaging (CMI) programs, Professor Martin Jarrold from Indiana University will develop a high resolution charge detection mass spectrometer (MS) with tandem capabilties (MS/MS). Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical tool used to identify the composition of a mixture or material. It determines the mass of the components by measuring the mass to charge ratio (m/z) of ions produced from the components. It is broadly used to analyze chemical, biological and environmental samples. A second generation charge detection mass spectrometer (CD/MS) will be built which will incorporate performance upgrades and add new capabilities. The mass resolution will be improved by at least an order of magnitude and the ability to perform MS/MS (where selected ions are broken up and analyzed by CD/MS) will be added.
Upon development, the spectrometer will be used in research including projects that study (a) kinetically trapped intermediates in the assembly of hepatitis B virus, (b) scaffolding protein in bacteriophage P22 procapsids, (c) DNA packaging in adeno-associated virus, and (d) non-icosahedral polymorphs in the self-assembly of Woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) capsids.
