Cod (Gadus morhua) muscle proteome cataloging using 1D-PAGE protein separation, nano-liquid chromatography peptide fractionation, and linear trap quadrupole (LTQ) mass spectrometry.

Because Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) has high economic value and its protein-rich muscle tissue is a food source, an increased understanding of the effects and consequences of environmental, nutritional, biological, and industrial factors on meat quality is necessary. To gain insight into cod muscle tissue protein composition, a large-scale proteomics approach has been used. One-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, nanoflow liquid chromatography peptide separation, and linear trap quadrupole mass spectrometry were used to identify 4804 peptides, which retrieved 9113 cod expressed sequence tags (ESTs), which in turn were mapped to 446 unique proteins. The same data set identified 3924 proteins from the zebrafish protein database, which highlights the complementary value of the two approaches. The generated data sets will act as a foundation for studies related to physiological status assessment of cod under different environmental conditions, screening for diseases, and biomarker identification for assessment of fish quality during industrial processing and preservation.