Shimadzu Review Vol.74[1・2](2017)
Healthcare

SPECIALLY COLLECTED PAPERS

Characterization of Bacteria by MALDI-MS

by Kanae Teramoto, Ph.D.1

Shimadzu Review 74[1・2] (2017.6)

Abstract

Mass spectrometry has been used for the characterization of cell components in the field of bacterial chemotaxonomy. MALDI-MS (matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry) allows the observation of bacterial proteins from bacterial crude cells, and the peaks observed were characterized as ribosomal subunit proteins. The ribosomal proteins are used as reliable biomarkers not only for identifying bacterial genus and species, but also discriminating bacte-rial subspecies and strains. In recent years, MALDI-MS systems for bacterial identification have become widespread in fields such as the food industry and clinical bacteriology, and the methods of sample preparation for MALDI-MS have been optimized for each type of bacteria. Even though MALDI-MS methods for bacterial identification still require further improvements in sample preparation and in identification databases, the method is expected to contribute to the improvement of bacterial identification.

Keywords: MALDI-MS, Ribosomal protein, Bacteria, Identification, Sample preparation


1Koichi Tanaka Mass Spectrometry Research Laboratory, Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan

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