METHODS
Bioinformatics
For the increasingly complex analyses, we use 3 different algorithms (MASCOT, SEQUEST, X! Tandem) to achieve the best possible match of observed mass spectra with theoretical ones in the spectral libraries. The high performance computing power required for data analysis has recently been provided by the Apple Research & Technology Support programme (ARTS), which backs leading research across Europe (http://www.apple.com/uk/education/arts/). The initial calculations to merge thousands of mass spectrometry spectra into a single file is a computer-intensive task, but once the merged dataset is generated, new software, such as Scaffold, allows us to visualize complex mass spectrometry datasets in a user-friendly manner and share the data with our collaborators even on standard computers.
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