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Pathogen identification using mass spectrometry in the clinical microbiology laboratory
Author(s) -
Drake Richard R.,
Boggs Sarah R.,
Drake Steven K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9888
pISSN - 1076-5174
DOI - 10.1002/jms.2008
Subject(s) - chemistry , clinical microbiology , mass spectrometry , pathogen , identification (biology) , chromatography , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , biology
The recent application of Matrix‐assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time‐of‐Flight and Polymerase Chain Reaction Electrospray Ionization Quadrupole Time‐of‐Flight mass spectrometry approaches to microbial identification has initiated a revolution in the clinical microbiology lab. The commercial application of these technologies to pathogen identification has only begun in the last five years, and already new potentially life‐saving applications of these technologies are rapidly identifying organisms that in the past have proven notoriously difficult to identify. In this review, we will provide a brief historical perspective on how these developments arose, describe why they are being successfully applied now and provide an overview of current approaches. Using examples involving clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus , a perspective on future use and developments of mass spectrometry in the identification of microbial organisms is provided. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.