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Advances in mass spectrometry for the identification of pathogens
Author(s) -
Ho YenPeng,
Reddy P. Muralidhar
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
mass spectrometry reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.035
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1098-2787
pISSN - 0277-7037
DOI - 10.1002/mas.20320
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , chromatography , complex matrix , capillary electrophoresis , sample preparation , microorganism , detection limit , biomarker discovery , capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry , computational biology , proteomics , electrospray ionization , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics , gene , biology
Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an important technique to identify microbial biomarkers. The rapid and accurate MS identification of microorganisms without any extensive pretreatment of samples is now possible. This review summarizes MS methods that are currently utilized in microbial analyses. Affinity methods are effective to clean, enrich, and investigate microorganisms from complex matrices. Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles might concentrate traces of target microorganisms from sample solutions. Therefore, nanoparticle‐based techniques have a favorable detection limit. MS coupled with various chromatographic techniques, such as liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis, reduces the complexity of microbial biomarkers and yields reliable results. The direct analysis of whole pathogenic microbial cells with matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization MS without sample separation reveals specific biomarkers for taxonomy, and has the advantages of simplicity, rapidity, and high‐throughput measurements. The MS detection of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐amplified microbial nucleic acids provides an alternative to biomarker analysis. This review will conclude with some current applications of MS in the identification of pathogens. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 30:1203–1224, 2011