Proteomics in Non-model Organisms: A New Analytical Frontier

For the last century we have relied on model organisms to help understand fundamental biological processes. Now, with advancements in genome sequencing, assembly, and annotation, non-model organisms may be studied with the same advanced bioanalytical toolkit as model organisms. Proteomics is one such technique, which classically relies on predicted protein sequences to catalog and measure complex proteomes across tissues and biofluids. Applying proteomics to non-model organisms can advance and accelerate biomimicry studies, biomedical advancements, veterinary medicine, agricultural research, behavioral ecology, and food safety. In this postmodel organism era, we can study almost any species, meaning that many non-model organisms are, in fact, important emerging model organisms. Herein we specifically focus on eukaryotic organisms and discuss the steps to generate sequence databases, analyze proteomic data with or without a database, and interpret results as well as future research opportunities. Proteomics is more accessible than ever before and will continue to rapidly advance in the coming years, enabling critical research and discoveries in non-model organisms that were hitherto impossible.