Ionomics Genome: Essentially, the Genetic/Hereditary

Ionomics

Genome:

Essentially, the genetic/hereditary information of a given organism, typically expressed in most complex organisms as a repeated sequence of DNA nucleotides and most often appearing as DNA bundles called chromosomes. The genetic map that allows for the growth and development of an organism.

Proteome:

A combination of "protein" and "genome," the term "proteome" refers to the proteins that are expressed by a given genome, or by a cell, tissue or organism. It is often used more specifically to identify the specific proteins expressed in specific given circumstances.

Transcriptome:

During cell division and other processes involving protein synthesis based on genetic information, certain specific RNA molecules are utilized by cells/tissues with a given genome. The RNAs expressed in any given circumstance are referred to as the transcriptome for that cell/genome/process.

Interactome:

The entirety of molecular interactions that take place within a give cell, process, tissue, etc. is referred to as the interactome of that cell, process, tissue, etc. This can include both genetically instigated interactions and those of other types occurring between all kinds of molecules..

Metabolome:

The whole of the metabolites and secondary metabolites, including hormones and intermediaries, contained within any biological sample (be it organism, tissue, or cell) is the metabolome.

Ionome:

Essentially the inorganic subset of the metabolome -- dietary and trace minerals and other component molecules found within an organism, cell, etc.

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The plant sample that is to be analyzed and characterized for ionomes is first digested, typically in a concentrated nitric acid bath that is diluted following the breakdown of the plant material. Open-air and microwaves digestion can both be used, with overall efficiencies favoring open-air methods especially when large magnitudes of samples are being used. This method also requires less handling of samples, leading to a lessened risk of contamination. The method recommended for the analysis of the diluted sample is the recently developed robust inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, or ICP-MS, which can sensitively and simultaneously analyze the sample for multiple elements and deliver accurate readings of their presence. This technique also allows for the survival of small plants, requiring very small sample sizes to remain effective, which is a definite benefit of this method over others as it ensures that ionomic mutations that are found can survive and be bred for further study -- often an issue of importance with ionomics.

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