scholarly journals Evaluation of the Vitek MS Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry System for Identification of Clinically Relevant Filamentous Fungi

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 2068-2073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison R. McMullen ◽  
Meghan A. Wallace ◽  
David H. Pincus ◽  
Kathy Wilkey ◽  
Carey-Ann D. Burnham

Invasive fungal infections have a high rate of morbidity and mortality, and accurate identification is necessary to guide appropriate antifungal therapy. With the increasing incidence of invasive disease attributed to filamentous fungi, rapid and accurate species-level identification of these pathogens is necessary. Traditional methods for identification of filamentous fungi can be slow and may lack resolution. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has emerged as a rapid and accurate method for identification of bacteria and yeasts, but a paucity of data exists on the performance characteristics of this method for identification of filamentous fungi. The objective of our study was to evaluate the accuracy of the Vitek MS for mold identification. A total of 319 mold isolates representing 43 genera recovered from clinical specimens were evaluated. Of these isolates, 213 (66.8%) were correctly identified using the Vitek MS Knowledge Base, version 3.0 database. When a modified SARAMIS (Spectral Archive and Microbial Identification System) database was used to augment the version 3.0 Knowledge Base, 245 (76.8%) isolates were correctly identified. Unidentified isolates were subcultured for repeat testing; 71/319 (22.3%) remained unidentified. Of the unidentified isolates, 69 were not in the database. Only 3 (0.9%) isolates were misidentified by MALDI-TOF MS (includingAspergillus amoenus[n= 2] andAspergillus calidoustus[n= 1]) although 10 (3.1%) of the original phenotypic identifications were not correct. In addition, this methodology was able to accurately identify 133/144 (93.6%)Aspergillussp. isolates to the species level. MALDI-TOF MS has the potential to expedite mold identification, and misidentifications are rare.

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. e01886-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Shao ◽  
Zhe Wan ◽  
Ruoyu Li ◽  
Jin Yu

ABSTRACT This study aimed to validate the effectiveness of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)-based identification of filamentous fungi of the order Mucorales. A total of 111 isolates covering six genera preserved at the Research Center for Medical Mycology of Peking University were selected for MALDI-TOF MS analysis. We emphasized the study of 23 strains of Mucor irregularis predominantly isolated from patients in China. We first used the Bruker Filamentous Fungi library (v1.0) to identify all 111 isolates. To increase the identification rate, we created a compensatory in-house database, the Beijing Medical University (BMU) database, using 13 reference strains covering 6 species, including M. irregularis, Mucor hiemalis, Mucor racemosus, Cunninghamella bertholletiae, Cunninghamella phaeospora, and Cunninghamella echinulata. All 111 isolates were then identified by MALDI-TOF MS using a combination of the Bruker library and BMU database. MALDI-TOF MS identified 55 (49.5%) and 74 (66.7%) isolates at the species and genus levels, respectively, using the Bruker Filamentous Fungi library v1.0 alone. A combination of the Bruker library and BMU database allowed MALDI-TOF MS to identify 90 (81.1%) and 111 (100%) isolates at the species and genus levels, respectively, with a significantly increased accuracy rate. MALDI-TOF MS poorly identified Mucorales when the Bruker library was used alone due to its lack of some fungal species. In contrast, this technique perfectly identified M. irregularis after main spectrum profiles (MSPs) of relevant reference strains were added to the Bruker library. With an expanded Bruker library, MALDI-TOF MS is an effective tool for the identification of pathogenic Mucorales.


2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 1143-1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Woods ◽  
David Beighton ◽  
John L. Klein

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) provides rapid, accurate and cost-effective identification of a range of bacteria and is rapidly changing the face of routine diagnostic microbiology. However, certain groups of bacteria, for example streptococci (in particular viridans or non-haemolytic streptococci), are less reliably identified by this method. We studied the performance of MALDI-TOF MS for identification of the ‘Streptococcus anginosus group’ (SAG) to species level. In total, 116 stored bacteraemia isolates identified by conventional methods as belonging to the SAG were analysed by MALDI-TOF MS. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing, supplemented with sialidase activity testing, was performed on all isolates to provide ‘gold standard’ identification against which to compare MALDI-TOF MS performance. Overall, 100 % of isolates were correctly identified to the genus level and 93.1 % to the species level by MALDI-TOF MS. However, only 77.6 % were correctly identified to the genus level and 59.5 % to the species level by a MALDI-TOF MS direct transfer method alone. Use of a rapid in situ extraction method significantly improved identification rates when compared with the direct transfer method (P<0.001). We recommend routine use of this method to reduce the number of time-consuming full extractions required for identification of this group of bacteria by MALDI-TOF MS in the routine diagnostic laboratory. Only 22 % (1/9) of Streptococcus intermedius isolates were reliably identified by MALDI-TOF MS to the species level, even after full extraction. MALDI-TOF MS reliably identifies S. anginosus and Streptococcus constellatus to the species level but does not reliably identify S. intermedius.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyi Yu ◽  
Zhenzhou Huang ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Qingbo Fu ◽  
Lirong Lin ◽  
...  

Shewanella species are widely distributed in the aquatic environment and aquatic organisms. They are opportunistic human pathogens with increasing clinical infections reported in recent years. However, there is a lack of a rapid and accurate method to identify Shewanella species. We evaluated here matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for rapid identification of Shewanella. A peptide mass reference spectra (PMRS) database was constructed for the type strains of 36 Shewanella species. The main spectrum projection (MSP) cluster dendrogram showed that the type strains of Shewanella species can be effectively distinguished according to the different MS fingerprinting. The PMRS database was validated using 125 Shewanella test strains isolated from various sources and periods; 92.8% (n = 116) of the strains were correctly identified at the species level, compared with the results of multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA), which was previously shown to be a method for identifying Shewanella at the species level. The misidentified strains (n = 9) by MALDI-TOF MS involved five species of two groups, i.e., Shewanella algae–Shewanella chilikensis–Shewanella indica and Shewanella seohaensis–Shewanella xiamenensis. We then identified and defined species-specific biomarker peaks of the 36 species using the type strains and validated these selected biomarkers using 125 test strains. Our study demonstrated that MALDI-TOF MS was a reliable and powerful tool for the rapid identification of Shewanella strains at the species level.


2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 1162-1176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Borman ◽  
Mark Fraser ◽  
Adrien Szekely ◽  
Daniel E. Larcombe ◽  
Elizabeth M. Johnson

ABSTRACT Exophiala is a ubiquitous pleomorphic genus comprising at least 40 species, many of which have been associated with superficial, visceral, or systemic infections in humans, other mammals, or cold-blooded animals. In this study, we investigated the potential of matrix-assisted laser desorption–ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the identification of Exophiala species. A total of 89 isolates (including 50 human and 4 animal clinical isolates) stored in the National Collection of Pathogenic Fungi were identified by PCR amplification and sequencing of internal transcribed spacer region 1. Eighty-three of the isolates corresponded to 16 known species within Exophiala/Rhinocladiella . The remaining six isolates are shown by phylogenetic analyses based on four loci to represent two novel Exophiala species. Four isolates from domestic bathrooms which form a sister species with Exophiala lecanii-corni are described here as Exophiala lavatrina sp. nov. The remaining two isolates, both from subcutaneous infections, are distantly related to Exophiala oligosperma and are described here as Exophiala campbellii sp. nov. The triazoles and terbinafine exhibited low MICs against all Exophiala isolates in vitro . MALDI-TOF MS successfully distinguished all 18 species and identified all isolates after appropriate reference spectra were created and added to commercial databases. Intraspecific mean log scores ranged from 1.786 to 2.584 and were consistently significantly higher than interspecific scores (1.193 to 1.624), with the exception of E. lecanii-corni and E. lavatrina , for which there was considerable log score overlap. In summary, MALDI-TOF MS allows the rapid and accurate identification of a wide range of clinically relevant Exophiala species.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-162
Author(s):  
Gülşen Hasçelik ◽  
Markus Kostrzewa ◽  
Hamit Kaan Müştak ◽  
Celalettin Uner ◽  
Kadir Serdar Diker

Abstract Background The routine identification to the species level of Nocardia genus by conventional methods is a fastidious and time-consuming process owing to the limited biochemical reactivity of these microorganisms, often requiring 1 or more days to complete identification. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a new technology for definitive and rapid species identification. Methods We evaluated the MALDI-TOF MS for the identification of 44 clinical isolates of Nocardia species in comparison to 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. Nocardia isolates were identified by microbiological examination, phenotypical tests and MALDI-TOF MS and the results were compared by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results Of the 44 Nocardia strains, the identification of 28 isolates was determined with MALDI Biotyper database. According to this, 16 isolates (57.1%) of the strain log scores were ≥2. Two (7.1%) were identified to the species level (log scores of ≥2) as Nocardia otitidiscaviarum. The addition of a newly established Nocardia database (16 new Nocardia strains included to the original database) did significantly improve the scores. The results were 43 (97.7%) correct identification to the species level (log scores of ≥2). Conclusions This study showed that the identification of clinical Nocardia isolates by the Bruker MALDI Biotyper is highly reliable, whereas identification rates are generally lower than those for some Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive cocci. Based on our data, the identification rates can be improved by validated new database entries and the results can be confirmed with nucleic acid sequence analysis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 376-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Buckwalter ◽  
S. L. Olson ◽  
B. J. Connelly ◽  
B. C. Lucas ◽  
A. A. Rodning ◽  
...  

The value of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization−time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the identification of bacteria and yeasts is well documented in the literature. Its utility for the identification of mycobacteria andNocardiaspp. has also been reported in a limited scope. In this work, we report the specificity of MALDI-TOF MS for the identification of 162Mycobacteriumspecies and subspecies, 53Nocardiaspecies, and 13 genera (totaling 43 species) of other aerobic actinomycetes using both the MALDI-TOF MS manufacturer's supplied database(s) and a custom database generated in our laboratory. The performance of a simplified processing and extraction procedure was also evaluated, and, similar to the results in an earlier literature report, our viability studies confirmed the ability of this process to inactivateMycobacterium tuberculosisprior to analysis. Following library construction and the specificity study, the performance of MALDI-TOF MS was directly compared with that of 16S rRNA gene sequencing for the evaluation of 297 mycobacteria isolates, 148Nocardiaspecies isolates, and 61 other aerobic actinomycetes isolates under routine clinical laboratory working conditions over a 6-month period. MALDI-TOF MS is a valuable tool for the identification of these groups of organisms. Limitations in the databases and in the ability of MALDI-TOF MS to rapidly identify slowly growing mycobacteria are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. e02358-20
Author(s):  
Jianchun Wei ◽  
Huijuan Zhang ◽  
Huifang Zhang ◽  
Enmin Zhang ◽  
Binghua Zhang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to construct a rapid, high-throughput, and biosafety-compatible screening method for Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus based on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). MALDI-TOF MS coupled to ClinProTools was used to discover MALDI-TOF MS biomarker peaks and generate a classification model based on a genetic algorithm (GA) to differentiate between different Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus isolates. Thirty Bacillus anthracis and 19 Bacillus cereus strains were used to construct and analyze the model, and 40 Bacillus strains were used for validation. For the GA screening model, the cross-validation values, which reflect the ability of the model to handle variability among the test spectra, and the recognition capability values, which reflect the model’s ability to correctly identify its component spectra, were all 100%. This model contained 10 biomarker peaks (m/z 3,339.9, 3,396.3, 3,682.4, 5,476.7, 6,610.6, 6,680.1, 7,365.3, 7,792.4, 9,475.8, and 10,934.1) used to correctly identify 28 Bacillus anthracis and 12 Bacillus cereus isolates from 40 Bacillus isolates, with a sensitivity and specificity of 100%. With the obvious advantages of being rapid, highly accurate, and highly sensitive and having a low cost and high throughput, MALDI-TOF MS ClinProTools is a powerful and reliable tool for screening Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus strains.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 3580-3588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Arinto-Garcia ◽  
Marcos Daniel Pinho ◽  
João André Carriço ◽  
José Melo-Cristino ◽  
Mário Ramirez

The heterogeneity of members of theStreptococcus anginosusgroup (SAG) has traditionally hampered their correct identification. Recently, the group was subdivided into 6 taxa whose prevalence among human infections is poorly described. We evaluated the accuracy of the Rapid ID32 Strep test, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and a PCR multiplex method to identify 212 SAG isolates recovered from human infections to the species and subspecies level by using multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) as the gold standard. We also determined the antimicrobial susceptibilities of the isolates. Representatives of all SAG taxa were found among our collection. MALDI-TOF MS and the Rapid ID32 Strep test correctly identified 92% and 68% of the isolates to the species level, respectively, but showed poor performance at the subspecies level, and the latter was responsible for major identification errors. The multiplex PCR method results were in complete agreement with the MLSA identifications but failed to distinguish the subspeciesStreptococcus constellatussubsp.pharyngisandS. constellatussubsp.viborgensis. A total of 145 MLSA sequence types were present in our collection, indicating that within each taxon a number of different lineages are capable of causing infection. Significant antibiotic resistance was observed only to tetracycline, erythromycin, and clindamycin and was present in most taxa. MALDI-TOF MS is a reliable method for routine SAG species identification, while the need for identification to the subspecies level is not clearly established.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1399-1402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuping Nie ◽  
Baoyu Tian ◽  
Xiaowei Wang ◽  
David H. Pincus ◽  
Martin Welker ◽  
...  

We explored the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for identification ofFusobacterium nucleatumsubspecies. MALDI-TOF MS spectra of fiveF. nucleatumsubspecies (animalis,fusiforme,nucleatum,polymorphum, andvincentii) were analyzed and divided into four distinct clusters, including subsp.animalis,nucleatum,polymorphum, andfusiforme/vincentii. MALDI-TOF MS with the modified SARAMIS database further correctly identified 28 of 34F. nucleatumclinical isolates to the subspecies level.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 465-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Triest ◽  
Dirk Stubbe ◽  
Koen De Cremer ◽  
Denis Piérard ◽  
Anne-Cécile Normand ◽  
...  

The rates of infection withFusariummolds are increasing, and a diverse number ofFusariumspp. belonging to different species complexes can cause infection. Conventional species identification in the clinical laboratory is time-consuming and prone to errors. We therefore evaluated whether matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a useful alternative. The 289Fusariumstrains from the Belgian Coordinated Collections of Microorganisms (BCCM)/Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Mycology (IHEM) culture collection with validated sequence-based identities and comprising 40 species were used in this study. An identification strategy was developed, applying a standardized MALDI-TOF MS assay and an in-house reference spectrum database.In vitroantifungal testing was performed to assess important differences in susceptibility between clinically relevant species/species complexes. We observed that no incorrect species complex identifications were made by MALDI-TOF MS, and 82.8% of the identifications were correct to the species level. This success rate was increased to 91% by lowering the cutoff for identification. Although the identification of the correct species complex member was not always guaranteed, antifungal susceptibility testing showed that discriminating betweenFusariumspecies complexes can be important for treatment but is not necessarily required between members of a species complex. With this perspective, someFusariumspecies complexes with closely related members can be considered as a whole, increasing the success rate of correct identifications to 97%. The application of our user-friendly MALDI-TOF MS identification approach resulted in a dramatic improvement in both time and accuracy compared to identification with the conventional method. A proof of principle of our MALDI-TOF MS approach in the clinical setting using recently isolatedFusariumstrains demonstrated its validity.


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