With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program, Professor Ralph N. Mead and colleague Pamela J. Seaton from the University of North Carolina Wilmington will acquire a liquid chromatograph/mass spectrometer with capabilities for mass spectrometry to the nth degree (LC/MSn). The instrument will be used in a variety of research projects including characterization of photoproducts generated from the destruction of emerging contaminates in natural waters, acyl chain characterization of bacterial lipids, characterization of fossil fuel derived organic matter, binding of DNA methylating agents, structure elucidation of microbial antioxidants from hog waste, and characterization of brevetoxin photoproducts.
An LC-MS combines the physical separation capability of liquid chromatography with the mass analysis ability of mass spectrometry. The liquid chromatograph separates a mixture into its molecular components. These components flow into a mass spectrometer where they are ionized into the parent ion and its fragment ions and their masses are measured. This highly sensitive technique allows detection and determination of the structure of molecules in a complex mixture. An instrument with MSn capability provides additional structural identification power through further fragmentation of ions produced in the spectrometer. The instrumentation provided by this award will provide faculty and students in several departments the opportunity to pursue research projects using modern instrumentation not heretofore available at the institution. It will also be used in several laboratory courses to train significant numbers of students in the use of this important analytical technique.
The acquisition of a liquid chromatograph coupled to a multidimensional mass spectrometer (LC/MSn) has vastly improved the teaching and research capabilities in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UNCW. Several research areas within chemistry have benefitted greatly from this instrument. For example, the characterization of marine toxins and pharmaceutical and personal care products in marine waters have elucidated broad, mechanistic understanding of the breakdown of these compounds in the environment. Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus membrane lipids has increased our understanding of the role of the composition of bacterial membranes in resistance to antimicrobial peptides, possibly enabling the design of new strategies to overcome bacterial resistance adaptations. Bacteria isolated from hog waste lagoons contain a carotenoid that may have valuable antioxidant and bioactivities, possibly resulting in a marketable product emerging from responsible hog waste lagoon management. All of these important findings would not be possible without the acquisition of the LC/MSn at UNCW. Over the lifetime of the grant there have been 3 undergraduate departmental honors theses completed and 7 completed or on going graduate research projects that have benefitted from the new instrument. The LC/MSn has been incorporated into upper level undergraduate and graduate chemistry courses where 660 and 24 students, respectively, have been exposed to the instrument and data generated from it. Inclusion of high profile research by the PI’s in both undergraduate and graduate level courses motivates these young students to continue their scientific education and choose a career in science which enhances the recruiting and retaining of young students in critical STEM fields. The success of our commitment to getting students excited about science as a career by bringing high profile research into the classroom is borne out in a recent issue of Chemical and Engineering News in which this department ranked 20th in the nation (top 3.2%) in the number of American Chemical Society certified BS chemistry degrees awarded. Data generated by the LC/MSn has been disseminated through professional meetings (e.g. American Chemical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography etc.,) and peer reviewed publications. There have been several interviews with local news agencies discussing projects and results based on data generated on the LC/MSn. The LC/MSn has acted as a nucleation point for collaboration within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as well as other departments at UNCW, such as Biology, Marine Sciences and Anthropology. These intra-and inter-disciplinary collaborations are important to advance the state of knowledge and expose students to the latest, most cutting edge research in and out of the classroom.
