LC-MS System for Collecting Time-Resolved Metabolomics Data of Cultured Cells

Temporal metabolic dynamics are difficult to capture but are critical to understanding biology. We developed an automated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system that collects time-resolved metabolomics data from cultured cells, enabling sub-minute sequential sampling, broad metabolite coverage, robust metabolite identification, and parallel monitoring of up to 72 experimental conditions. Using this system, we identified temporal metabolic phenotypes of <i>Escherichia coli</i> and <i>Proteus mirabilis</i> that could not be captured from single time points.