Deep learning from harmonized peptide libraries enables retention time prediction of diverse post translational modifications

In proteomics experiments, peptide retention time (RT) is an orthogonal property to fragmentation when assessing detection confidence. Advances in deep learning enable accurate RT prediction for any peptide from sequence alone, including those yet to be experimentally observed. Here we present Chronologer, an open-source software tool for rapid and accurate peptide RT prediction. Using new approaches to harmonize and false-discovery correct across independently collected datasets, Chronologer is built on a massive database with >2.2 million peptides including 10 common post-translational modification (PTM) types. By linking knowledge learned across diverse peptide chemistries, Chronologer predicts RTs with less than two-thirds the error of other deep learning tools. We show how RT for rare PTMs, such as OGlcNAc, can be learned with high accuracy using as few as 10-100 example peptides in newly harmonized datasets. This iteratively updatable workflow enables Chronologer to comprehensively predict RTs for PTM-marked peptides across entire proteomes.