Automated procedure for candidate compound selection in GC-MS metabolomics based on prediction of Kovats retention index

  • Authors:
  • V. V. Mihaleva;H. A. Verhoeven;R. C. H. de Vos;R. D. Hall;R. C. H. J. van Ham

  • Affiliations:
  • -;-;-;-;-

  • Venue:
  • Bioinformatics
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

Motivation: Matching both the retention index (RI) and the mass spectrum of an unknown compound against a mass spectral reference library provides strong evidence for a correct identification of that compound. Data on retention indices are, however, available for only a small fraction of the compounds in such libraries. We propose a quantitative structure-RI model that enables the ranking and filtering of putative identifications of compounds for which the predicted RI falls outside a predefined window. Results: We constructed multiple linear regression and support vector regression (SVR) models using a set of descriptors obtained with a genetic algorithm as variable selection method. The SVR model is a significant improvement over previous models built for structurally diverse compounds as it covers a large range (360–4100) of RI values and gives better prediction of isomer compounds. The hit list reduction varied from 41% to 60% and depended on the size of the original hit list. Large hit lists were reduced to a greater extend compared with small hit lists. Availability: http://appliedbioinformatics.wur.nl/GC-MS Contact: roeland.vanham@wur.nl Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.