Identification of bacteria using mass spectrometry techniques

•We summarize development and innovations in MS identification of bacteria.•We compare current commercial systems designed for clinical use.•We review biomarkers suitable for identification of bacteria by MS.

The possibility to rapidly identify bacteria is required in many different fields. Due to rapid progress in the development of mass spectrometry devices during the last few years, identification by means of mass spectrometry has become a very powerful and usable tool. These methods offer fast analysis of biomarker ions, providing reliable information on bacteria characterization even at the sub-species level. Therefore, these approaches have been successfully established as routine methods, together with classical biochemical tests and genome sequencing. This review focuses on common biomarkers and on different mass spectrometry techniques which have been used for bacteria identification throughout the third millennium.

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