Biochemical compounds peak components

Figure 35 presents the O Is, N Is, and C Is peaks of three different strains of Bacillus subtilis. The peak decomposition is also shown. For the C Is and O Is peak of microorganisms, it is recommended to perform the second step (cf. the section on Peak Components of Biochemical Compounds), imposing the same FWHM for all components of a given peak this value may be let to be adjusted during the iterative process or may be the average of the values obtained in the first step. 

The consistency of the components and of their attribution are confirmed by quantitative relationships between data as discussed below. This consistency is remarkable in view of the difficulties pointed out in the section Peak Components of Biochemical Compounds to make reliable decomposition of peaks of simple compounds. It is due to the presence of a limited number of major chemical functions in Hving matter. It is also due to the reliability of the ratios of sensitivity factors used with the SSX 100/206 spectrometer (cf. the section on Accuracy). 

The biochemical MS assay performance was studied for various biotin derivatives, such as biotin [m/z 245), N-biotinyl-6-aminocaproic acid hydrazide (m/z 372), biotin-hydrazide (m/z 259), N-biotinyl-L-lysine (m/z 373) and biotin-N-succinimi-dylester m/z 342). These five different bioactive compounds were consecutively injected into the biochemical MS assay. Figure 5.12 shows triplicate injections in the biochemical MS-based system of the different active compounds. Each compound binds to streptavidin, hence the MS responses of peaks of the reporter ligand (fluorescein-biotin, m/z 390) are similar. The use of SIM allows specific components to be selected and monitored, e.g. protonated molecule of the biotin derivatives. In this case, no peaks were observed for biotin-N-succinimidylester (m/z 342), because under the applied conditions fragmentation occurred to m/z 245. In combination with full-scan MS measurements, the molecular mass of active compounds can be determined simultaneously to the biochemical measurement. 

There are major differences in the chemical compositions of DOM isolated by XAD resins and ultrafiltration (Table I). In rivers and in the ocean, humic substances (XAD isolation) are depleted in N relative to UDOM. The C/N ratios of UDOM are more representative of bulk DOM than those of humic substances. Most of the functional groups identified by NMR are found in more than one class of compounds, so in most cases specific functional groups are not assigned to a particular group of biochemicals. However, in some circumstances it is possible to estimate the fraction of carbon associated with a biochemical class, such as carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are the most abundant polyalcohols in nature, and the ratio (4-5 1) of areas associated with NMR peaks at specific chemical shifts [e.g., 72 ppm (C—O) -102 ppm (O—C—O)] indicates that carbohydrates are their primary source (see Table I for references). In general, humic substances are depleted in carbohydrates (C—O and O—C—O) and enriched in aromatic and unsaturated C (C=C) relative to UDOM (Table I). As mentioned earlier, humic substances are relatively hydrophobic components of DOM, and it is consistent that they are depleted in N and carbohydrates and enriched in aromatic components. The UDOM fraction includes more hydrophilic components that are relatively enriched in N and carbohydrates. Humic substances from the ocean are enriched in aliphatic C (C—C) relative to UDOM, and this could reflect the more hydrophobic nature of the humic substances. 

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