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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Identification of Rare Bacterial Pathogens by 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing and MALDI-TOF MS
Published on: July 11, 2016
[MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to identify clinical bacterial isolates: evaluation in a teaching hospital in Lille]
N Blondiaux1, O Gaillot, R-J Courcol
1Pôle de Microbiologie, Centre de Biologie Pathologie, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Lille, boulevard du Pr-J-Leclercq, 59037 Lille cedex, France. nicolas.blondiaux@chru-lille.fr
Purpose:
The aim of our study was to evaluate the capacity of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to identify clinical bacterial isolates, as compared to the automated identification system Vitek 2 (bioMérieux) used routinely in a teaching hospital.
Methods:
Three hundred and sixty-two strains representing 178 species from the laboratory collection were analysed by a Microflex spectrometer (Bruker Daltonics) and Vitek 2. Discrepancies between MALDI-TOF and Vitek 2 identifications were investigated by genetic identification (rrS, sodA, rpoB), considered as a reference.
Results:
Among the 362 isolates, 264 (73%) were consistently identified by Vitek 2 and Microflex. Taking into account genetic identification, we found that 44 (44.9%) of the 98 remaining isolates were correctly identified by mass spectrometry but not by Vitek 2. Conversely, 33 isolates (33.7%) were correctly identified by Vitek 2, but not by Microflex. The genetic identification of the 21 remaining isolates (21,4%) did not match either Vitek 2 or Microflex results.
Conclusion:
The performances of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for bacterial identification correspond to those of a reference automated identification system.
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