The accurate mass and time tag mass spectrometry method and clustering analysis were used tocompare the abundance change of 992
Yersinia pestis proteins under four contrasting growth conditions(26 and 37
![](/images/entities/deg.gif)
C, with or without Ca
2+) that mimicked growth states in either a flea vector or mammalianhost. Eighty-nine proteins were observed to have similar abundance change profiles to 29 knownvirulence associated proteins, providing identification of additional biomarker candidates. Eighty-sevenhypothetical proteins, which clustered into 5 distinct clusters of like-protein abundance change, wereidentified as unique biomarkers related specifically to growth condition.