Abstract
Currently microorganisms are best identified using 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene sequencing. However, in recent years matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has emerged as a potential tool for microbial identification and diagnosis. During the MALDI-TOF MS process, microbes are identified using either intact cells or cell extracts. The process is rapid, sensitive, and economical in terms of both labor and costs involved. The technology has been readily imbibed by microbiologists who have reported usage of MALDI-TOF MS for a number of purposes like, microbial identification and strain typing, epidemiological studies, detection of biological warfare agents, detection of water- and food-borne pathogens, detection of antibiotic resistance and detection of blood and urinary tract pathogens etc. The limitation of the technology is that identification of new isolates is possible only if the spectral database contains peptide mass fingerprints of the type strains of specific genera/species/subspecies/strains. This review provides an overview of the status and recent applications of mass spectrometry for microbial identification. It also explores the usefulness of this exciting new technology for diagnosis of diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Highlights
The genomic information within a microbial cell translates into more than 2000 proteins, a substantial number of which can be studied using proteomics (Wasinger et al, 1995)
This review provides an overview of the status and recent applications of mass spectrometry (MS) for microbial identification and explores the usefulness of this technology for diagnosis of diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi
MALDITOF MS has certain advantages over electron spray ionization (ESI)-MS viz. (i) MALDITOF MS produces singly charged ions, interpretation of data is easy comparative to ESI-MS, (ii) for analysis by ESIMS, prior separation by chromatography is required which is Conventional; culture on microbiological
Summary
The genomic information within a microbial cell translates into more than 2000 proteins, a substantial number of which can be studied using proteomics (Wasinger et al, 1995). SDS-PAGE of whole cell proteins, coupled with computer assisted analysis was used in a few studies for identification and classification of microorganisms (Vandamme et al, 1996). The development of electron spray ionization (ESI) and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) in 1980s increased the applicability of MS to large biological molecules like proteins. In both ESI and MALDI, peptides are converted into ions by either addition or loss of one or more than one protons. (i) MALDITOF MS produces singly charged ions, interpretation of data is easy comparative to ESI-MS, (ii) for analysis by ESIMS, prior separation by chromatography is required which is TABLE 1 | Microbial detection methods used in clinical microbiology MALDITOF MS has certain advantages over ESI-MS viz. (i) MALDITOF MS produces singly charged ions, interpretation of data is easy comparative to ESI-MS, (ii) for analysis by ESIMS, prior separation by chromatography is required which is TABLE 1 | Microbial detection methods used in clinical microbiology
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