What is MALDI-TOF MS used for?

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) has become a widely used technique for the rapid and accurate identification of bacteria, mycobacteria and certain fungal pathogens in the clinical microbiology laboratory.

What is MALDI-TOF MS analysis?

Mass spectrometry is an analytical technique in which samples are ionized into charged molecules and ratio of their mass-to-charge (m/z) can be measured.

What is TOF in MALDI-TOF?

In time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry, ionized oligo molecules are accelerated by an electrostatic field in the mass analyzer to a common kinetic energy. With the same kinetic energy, lighter ions travel faster and heavier ions travel more slowly.

How is MALDI-TOF used to identify bacteria?

Identification of microbes by MALDI-TOF MS is done by either comparing the PMF of unknown organism with the PMFs contained in the database, or by matching the masses of biomarkers of unknown organism with the proteome database.

Why is Maldi-TOF MS particularly important in clinical microbiology?

During this decade, MALDI-TOF MS has become an indispensable tool for clinical microbiology laboratories. The speed of identification, accuracy, low cost and waste reduction are characteristics of this technology. There is also immense potential for analysis of antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) and subspecies.

How is MALDI-TOF used in microbiology?

MALDI-TOF measures the mass of molecules from a sample that has been embedded in a matrix by using a laser to ablate and desorb the molecules with minimal fragmentation.

What is the major advantage of TOF?

Advantages of using TOF for broad spectrum analysis includes increased mass accuracy and mass resolution, greater sensitivity, rapid acquisition, and increased dynamic range when profiling over a broad molecular weight range.