Hi David,

Thanks for the link, it is a nice illustration of the difference
between monoisotopic and average masses.

However, what I'm hoping to find out is what the monoisotopic vs
average parameter means in the context of a peptide identification
program like Mascot or X!Tandem. e.g.

Possible Interpretation 1 - setting the parameter to "monoisotopic"
means that you are telling Mascot that your MS2 spectra have already
been peak-picked/deisotoped prior to submission, and that the peak-
picking procedure you used identified monoisotopic peaks rather that
an average-mass peaks for the isotope envelopes.

Possible Interpretation 2- setting the parameter to "monoisotopic"
means that your as expecting Mascot to de-isotope your MS2 spectra for
you (i.e. the spectra you submit contain all peaks for each isotope),
and that you're confident that your data is high-enough resolution for
Mascot to attempt to identify the monoisotopic peaks  rather than
average-mass peaks for the purpose of comparison to theoretical
spectra.

Thanks.

On Oct 25, 10:36 pm, David Trudgian
<[email protected]> wrote:
> See:
>
> http://ionsource.com/tutorial/isotopes/slide8.htm
>
> for a good explanation.
>
> DT
>
> --
> David Trudgian Ph.D.
> Instructor, Biochemistry Dept and Proteomics Core
> UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
> 6001 Forest Park Rd, Dallas, TX 75390-8816
> Room:ND6.214 Tel:(214)648-7025 Fax:(214)645-6298
>
> From: [email protected] 
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bio X2Y
> Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 1:10 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [spctools-discuss] MS/MS Peptide Identification - Please Clarify 
> “Monoisotopic vs Average” Parameter
>
> Hi,
>
> (I posted the following question to BioStar several days ago, where it hasn't 
> received a reply. Hopefully someone here can 
> help.http://biostar.stackexchange.com/questions/13406/ms-ms-peptide-identi...)
>
> Both Mascot and X!Tandem offer a parameter for "monoisotopic vs average" 
> (X!Tandem calls it "spectrum, fragment mass type"). Even after reading the 
> documentation, I'm unclear on the meaning of this parameter - perhaps someone 
> can clarify?
>
> In general, I understand the difference between MS1 and MS2 scans, and I 
> understand the existence of isotope envelopes at both MS1 and MS2 levels. I'm 
> also clear on the point that the first peak (all-12C) of an isotope envelope 
> is the monoisotopic peak, which may or may not be the most intense peak.
>
> My best guess regarding the parameter (although I'm not at all confident): 
> both engines assume that you have de-isotoped your MS2 spectra before 
> submission, and that this parameter is asking the user to clarify whether the 
> deisotoping procedure retained the monoisotopic peak or the most intense peak.
>
> Thanks for your time.
>
> X!Tandem explanation:http://www.thegpm.org/TANDEM/api/sfmt.html
> Mascot 
> explanation:http://www.matrixscience.com/help/search_field_help.html#MASS
>
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