scholarly journals Conserved mass peaks in MALDI-TOF mass spectra of bacterial species at the genus and species levels

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenfa Ng
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrum ◽  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Mass Peak ◽  
Biological Basis ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Microbial Identification ◽  
Genus Level ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Maldi Tof Mass Spectra ◽  
Tof Ms

Microbes are identified based on their distinguishing characteristics such as gene sequence or metabolic profile. Nucleic acid approaches such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing provide the gold standard method for microbial identification in the contemporary era. However, mass spectrometry-based microbial identification is gaining credence through ease of use, speed, and reliability. Specifically, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been used in identifying bacteria, fungus, molds and archaea to the species level with high accuracy. The approach relies on the existence of unique mass spectrum fingerprint for individual microbial species. By comparing the mass spectrum of an unknown microbe with that catalogued in a reference database of known microorganisms, microbes could be identified through mass spectrum fingerprinting. However, the approach lacks fundamental biological basis given the relative difficulty in assigning specific protein to particular mass peak in the profiled mass spectrum, which hampers a deeper understanding of the mass spectrum obtained. This study seeks to examine the existence of conserved mass peaks in MALDI-TOF mass spectra of bacteria at the species and genus levels using open access data from SpectraBank. Results revealed that conserved mass peaks existed for all bacterial species examined. Large number of conserved mass peaks such as that of Escherichia coli and Morganella morganii suggested more closely-related strains of a species though functional annotation of the mass peaks is required to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the conservation of specific proteins. On the other hand, strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas putida had the least number of conserved mass peaks. Presence of conserved mass peaks in many genus provided further evidence that MALDI-TOF MS microbial identification had a biological basis in identification of microbial species to the genus level. In addition, it also highlighted that a subset of proteins could define the taxonomical boundary between the species and genus level. Finally, existence of only one conserved mass peak in Bacillus genus corroborated the difficulty of discriminating Bacillus species based on MALDI-TOF mass spectra. Similarly, no conserved mass peak at the genus level could be found for the Staphylococcus genus. Overall, existence of conserved mass peaks of bacteria at the species and genus levels provided evidence of a firm biological basis in the mass spectrum fingerprinting approach of MALDI-TOF MS microbial identification. This could help identify specific species in mass spectrum of single or multiple microbial species. Further functional annotation of the conserved mass peaks could illuminate in greater detail the biological mysteries of why certain proteins are conserved in specific genus and species.

scholarly journals Conserved mass peaks in MALDI-TOF mass spectra of bacterial species at the genus and species levels

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenfa Ng
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrum ◽  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Mass Peak ◽  
Biological Basis ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Microbial Identification ◽  
Genus Level ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Maldi Tof Mass Spectra ◽  
Tof Ms

Microbes are identified based on their distinguishing characteristics such as gene sequence or metabolic profile. Nucleic acid approaches such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing provide the gold standard method for microbial identification in the contemporary era. However, mass spectrometry-based microbial identification is gaining credence through ease of use, speed, and reliability. Specifically, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been used in identifying bacteria, fungus, molds and archaea to the species level with high accuracy. The approach relies on the existence of unique mass spectrum fingerprint for individual microbial species. By comparing the mass spectrum of an unknown microbe with that catalogued in a reference database of known microorganisms, microbes could be identified through mass spectrum fingerprinting. However, the approach lacks fundamental biological basis given the relative difficulty in assigning specific protein to particular mass peak in the profiled mass spectrum, which hampers a deeper understanding of the mass spectrum obtained. This study seeks to examine the existence of conserved mass peaks in MALDI-TOF mass spectra of bacteria at the species and genus levels using open access data from SpectraBank. Results revealed that conserved mass peaks existed for all bacterial species examined. Large number of conserved mass peaks such as that of Escherichia coli and Morganella morganii suggested more closely-related strains of a species though functional annotation of the mass peaks is required to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the conservation of specific proteins. On the other hand, strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas putida had the least number of conserved mass peaks. Presence of conserved mass peaks in many genus provided further evidence that MALDI-TOF MS microbial identification had a biological basis in identification of microbial species to the genus level. In addition, it also highlighted that a subset of proteins could define the taxonomical boundary between the species and genus level. Finally, existence of only one conserved mass peak in Bacillus genus corroborated the difficulty of discriminating Bacillus species based on MALDI-TOF mass spectra. Similarly, no conserved mass peak at the genus level could be found for the Staphylococcus genus. Overall, existence of conserved mass peaks of bacteria at the species and genus levels provided evidence of a firm biological basis in the mass spectrum fingerprinting approach of MALDI-TOF MS microbial identification. This could help identify specific species in mass spectrum of single or multiple microbial species. Further functional annotation of the conserved mass peaks could illuminate in greater detail the biological mysteries of why certain proteins are conserved in specific genus and species.

scholarly journals Conserved mass peaks in MALDI-TOF mass spectra of bacterial species

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenfa Ng
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrum ◽  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Biological Basis ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Microbial Identification ◽  
Microbial Species ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Maldi Tof Mass Spectra ◽  
Tof Ms

Microbes are identified based on their distinguishing characteristics such as gene sequence or metabolic profile. Nucleic acid approaches such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing provide the gold standard method for microbial identification in the contemporary era. However, mass spectrometry-based microbial identification is gaining credence through ease of use, speed, and reliability. Specifically, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been used in identifying bacteria, fungus, molds and archaea to the species level with high accuracy. The approach relies on the existence of unique mass spectrum fingerprint for individual microbial species. By comparing the mass spectrum of an unknown microbe with that catalogued in a reference database of known microorganisms, microbes could be identified through mass spectrum fingerprinting. However, the approach lacks fundamental biological basis given the relative difficulty in assigning specific protein to particular mass peak in the profiled mass spectrum, which hampers a deeper understanding of the mass spectrum obtained. This study seeks to examine the existence of conserved mass peaks in MALDI-TOF mass spectra of bacterial strains belonging to the same species in open access data from SpectraBank. Results revealed that conserved mass peaks existed for all bacterial species examined (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus thuringiensis, Carnobacterium maltaaromaticum, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Pseudomonas fragi, Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas syringae, Serratia marcescens, Serratia proteamaculans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia). Large number of conserved mass peaks such as that of E. coli might suggest more closely-related strains of a species though functional annotation of the mass peaks is required to provide deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying the conservation of specific proteins. On the other hand, strains of S. aureus and P. putida had the least number of conserved mass peaks. Presence of conserved mass peaks in the genus Pseudomonas and Serratia provided further evidence that MALDI-TOF MS microbial identification had a biological basis in identification of microbial species to the genus level. On the other hand, it also highlighted that a subset of proteins could define the taxonomical boundary between the species and genus level. Overall, existence of conserved mass peaks in strains of the same bacterial species provided evidence of a firm biological basis in the mass spectrum fingerprinting approach of MALDI-TOF MS microbial identification. This could help identify specific species in mass spectrum of single or multiple microbial species. Further functional annotation of the conserved mass peaks could illuminate in greater detail the biological mysteries of why certain proteins are conserved in specific genus and species.

scholarly journals Characterization of aliphatic hyperbranched polyesters by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 333-341
Author(s):  
Jasna Vukovic ◽  
Slobodan Jovanovic ◽  
Manfred Lechner
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Degree Of Polymerization ◽  
Side Reactions ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Hyperbranched Polyesters ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Maldi Tof Mass Spectra ◽  
Tof Ms

In this work, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was used for the characterization of aliphatic hyperbranched polyesters (AHBP), synthesized from 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid (bis-MPA) and di-trimethylolpropane. From the obtained results it was concluded that it was not possible to take complete advantages of MALDI-TOF MS in this particular case, since the AHBP used in this work were polydisperse. The intensity of the signals from the high mass tail of these samples (pseudo generation higher than four) was underestimated and insufficient to distinguish it from the baseline and to use it for the analysis of the spectra. As a consequence of that, lower values of the Mn were obtained. At the same time, Mw were also underestimated, which led to very low values of the polydispersity index. On the other hand, it was possible to obtain molar masses of individual molecules from the MALDI-TOF mass spectra of AHBP and to qualitatively determine the extent of cyclization (side reactions) at each degree of polymerization. Using the adequate set of equations and results obtained from MALDI-TOF mass spectra of AHBP, every signal from the spectra was identified. The obtained results show that formation of poly(bis-MPA), intramolecular esterification and intramolecular etherification occurred as side reactions during the synthesis of these polyesters. The relative amount of the cycles increases with the number of pseudo generation (from the second up to the fifth pseudo generation). It was also observed that the relative proportion of the signals which represent cyclic structures increases with the increasing degree of polymerization. In this work the basic principles of MALDI-TOF MS are also presented, as well as, a review of adequate published articles.

Detection of Adducts with Matrix Clusters in the Positive and Negative Ion Mode MALDI-TOF Mass Spectra of Phospholipids

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijana Petković ◽  
Jürgen Schiller ◽  
Matthias Müller ◽  
Rosmarie Süß ◽  
Klaus Arnold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Negative Ion ◽  
Dihydroxybenzoic Acid ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Maldi Tof Mass Spectra ◽  
Negative Ion Mode ◽  
Charged Ions ◽  
Positively Charged ◽  
Tof Ms

It is usually accepted that neutral phospholipids (PLs) generate singly positively charged ions, whereas negative PLs are easily detectable in the negative ion mode when analysed by matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionisation time-offlight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). In this study, we demonstrate that some caution is required in the interpretation of MALDI-TOF mass spectra of PLs, since also neutral PLs have appeared to be detectable in the negative ion mode as well. Neutral and negatively charged phospholipids can generate adducts with the most commonly used matrix - 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid - yielding singly negatively charged ions that are detectable in the spectra. This further contributes to the complexity of the spectra and potentially leads to severe misinterpretation, particularly when unknown mixtures of PLs are analysed by MALDI-TOF MS.

scholarly journals Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) as a Reliable Tool to Identify Species of Catalase-negative Gram-positive Cocci not Belonging to the Streptococcus Genus

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Almuzara ◽  
Claudia Barberis ◽  
Viviana Rojas Velázquez ◽  
Maria Soledad Ramirez ◽  
Angela Famiglietti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extraction Methods ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Ionization Time ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Genus Level ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Flight Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Level Identification ◽  
Gram Positive Cocci ◽  
Tof Ms

Objective:To evaluate the performance of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) by using 190 Catalase-negative Gram-Positive Cocci (GPC) clinical isolates.Methods:All isolates were identified by conventional phenotypic tests following the proposed scheme by Ruoff and Christensen and MALDI-TOF MS (Bruker Daltonics, BD, Bremen, Germany). Two different extraction methods (direct transfer formic acid method on spot and ethanol formic acid extraction method) and different cut-offs for genus/specie level identification were used. The score cut-offs recommended by the manufacturer (≥ 2.000 for species-level, 1.700 to 1.999 for genus level and <1.700 no reliable identification) and lower cut-off scores (≥1.500 for genus level, ≥ 1.700 for species-level and score <1.500 no reliable identification) were considered for identification. A minimum difference of 10% between the top and next closest score was required for a different genus or species.MALDI-TOF MS identification was considered correct when the result obtained from MS database agreed with the phenotypic identification result.When both methods gave discordant results, the 16S rDNA orsodAgenes sequencing was considered as the gold standard identification method. The results obtained by MS concordant with genes sequencing, although discordant with conventional phenotyping, were considered correct. MS results discordant with 16S orsodA identification were considered incorrect.Results:Using the score cut-offs recommended by the manufacturer, 97.37% and 81.05% were correctly identified to genus and species level, respectively. On the other hand, using lower cut-off scores for identification, 97.89% and 94.21% isolates were correctly identified to genus and species level respectively by MALDI-TOF MS and no significant differences between the results obtained with two extraction methods were obtained.Conclusion:The results obtained suggest that MALDI-TOF MS has the potential of being an accurate tool for Catalase-negative GPC identification even for those species with difficult diagnosis asHelcococcus,Abiotrophia,Granulicatella, among others. Nevertheless, expansion of the library, especially including more strains with different spectra on the same species might overcome potential “intraspecies” variability problems. Moreover, a decrease of the identification scores for species and genus-level identification must be considered since it may improve the MALDI-TOF MS accuracy.

scholarly journals Development and Validation of an in-House Library of Colombian Candida auris Strains with MALDI-TOF MS to Improve Yeast Identification

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Ceballos-Garzon ◽  
Daniela Amado ◽  
Norida Vélez ◽  
María José Jiménez-A ◽  
Crescencio Rodríguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Candida Auris ◽  
Yeast Identification ◽  
Great Opportunity ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Identification Process ◽  
Clinical Strains ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
Tof Ms

Background: Candida auris is characterized for having a high genetic variability among species. MALDI-TOF MS library contains spectra from only three strains of C. auris, which makes difficult the identification process and gives low scores at the species level. Our aim was to construct and validate an internal library to improve C. auris identification with Colombian clinical strains. Methods: From 30 clinical strains, 770 mass spectra were obtained for the construction of the database. The validation was performed with 300 strains to compare the identification results in the BDAL and C. auris Colombia libraries. Results: Our library allowed a complete, 100% identification of the evaluated strains and a significant improvement in the scores obtained, showing a better performance compared to the Bruker BDAL library. Conclusions: The strengthening of the database is a great opportunity to improve the scoring and C. auris identification. Library data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD016387.

scholarly journals Antibiotic Resistance and Molecular Epidemiological Characteristics of Streptococcus agalactiae Isolated from Pregnant Women in Guangzhou, South China

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Zhaomin Cheng ◽  
Pinghua Qu ◽  
Peifeng Ke ◽  
Xiaohan Yang ◽  
Qiang Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Resistance Genes ◽  
Streptococcus Agalactiae ◽  
Virulence Genes ◽  
Mass Peak ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics ◽  
Tof Ms

Streptococcus agalactiae colonization in pregnant women can cause postpartum intrauterine infections and life-threatening neonatal infections. To formulate strategies for the prevention and treatment of S. agalactiae infections, we performed a comprehensive analysis of antibiotic resistance and a molecular-based epidemiological investigation of S. agalactiae in this study. Seventy-two S. agalactiae strains, collected from pregnant women, were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility tests; then, the screened erythromycin and clindamycin nonsusceptible isolates were used for macrolides and clindamycin resistance genes detection, respectively. Detection of resistance genes, serotyping, and determination of virulence genes were performed by polymerase chain reaction. The clonal relationships among the colonized strains were evaluated by multilocus sequence typing. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) mass peak analysis was performed to discriminate the specific sequence types (STs). In our study, 69.4% and 47.2% of the strains were nonsusceptible to erythromycin and clindamycin, respectively; the multidrug resistance rate was 66.7%. All erythromycin nonsusceptible strains harbored resistance genes, whereas only 52.9% of the clindamycin nonsusceptible strains possessed the linB gene. Erythromycin resistance was mainly mediated by the ermB or mefA/E genes. Four serotypes were identified, and the most common serotype was serotype III (52.8%), followed by Ib (22.2%), Ia (18.0%), and II (4.2%). All the strains were divided into 18 STs that were assigned to nine clonal complexes. Most of the major STs were distributed into specific serotypes, including ST19/serotype III, ST17/serotype III, ST485/serotype Ia, ST862/serotype III, and ST651/serotype III. Analysis of virulence genes yielded seven clusters, of which bca-cfb-scpB-lmb (61.6%) was the predominant virulence gene cluster. Among all ST strains distributed in this region, only the ST17 strains had a mass peak at 7620 Da. The outcomes of this study are beneficial for the epidemiological comparison of colonized S. agalactiae in different regions and may be helpful for developing the strategies for the prevention of S. agalactiae infection in Guangzhou. Furthermore, our results show that MALDI-TOF MS can be used for the rapid identification of the ST17 strains.

scholarly journals Performances and Reliability of Bruker Microflex LT and VITEK MS MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Systems for the Identification of Clinical Microorganisms

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kivanc Bilecen ◽  
Gorkem Yaman ◽  
Ugur Ciftci ◽  
Yahya Rauf Laleli
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Clinical Microbiology ◽  
Identification Accuracy ◽  
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Microbial Identification ◽  
Phenotypic Identification ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Vitek Ms ◽  
Tof Ms

In clinical microbiology laboratories, routine microbial identification is mostly performed using culture based methodologies requiring 24 to 72 hours from culturing to identification. Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) technology has been established as a cost effective, reliable, and faster alternative identification platform. In this study, we evaluated the reliability of the two available MALDI-TOF MS systems for their routine clinical level identification accuracy and efficiency in a clinical microbiology laboratory setting. A total of 1,341 routine phenotypically identified clinical bacterial and fungal isolates were selected and simultaneously analyzed using VITEK MS (bioMérieux, France) and Microflex LT (Bruker Diagnostics, Germany) MALDI-TOF MS systems. For any isolate that could not be identified with either of the systems and for any discordant result, 16S rDNA gene or ITS1/ITS2 sequencing was used. VITEK MS and Microflex LT correctly identified 1,303 (97.17%) and 1,298 (96.79%) isolates to the species level, respectively. In 114 (8.50%) isolates initial phenotypic identification was inaccurate. Both systems showed a similar identification efficiency and workflow robustness, and they were twice as more accurate compared to routine phenotypic identification in our sample pool. MALDITOF systems with their accuracy and robustness offer a good identification platform for routine clinical microbiology laboratories.

Genus-level identification of dermatophytes by MALDI-TOF MS after 2 days of colony growth

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Intra ◽  
C. Sarto ◽  
N. Tiberti ◽  
S. Besana ◽  
C. Savarino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colony Growth ◽  
Maldi Tof Ms ◽  
Genus Level ◽  
Maldi Tof ◽  
Level Identification ◽  
Tof Ms
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