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Updated: May 16, 2026

Identification of Rare Bacterial Pathogens by 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing and MALDI-TOF MS
Published on: July 11, 2016
Effect of gamma radiation on the identification of bacterial pathogens by MALDI-TOF MS
Dobryan M Tracz1, Stuart J McCorrister, Garrett R Westmacott
1National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3E 3R2.
Abstract:
MALDI-TOF MS is a well-established method for rapid identification of bacteria; however there are no reports to date on its performance with gamma-irradiated samples typically used in BSL-3 laboratories for sample inactivation. In this report we demonstrate that gamma-irradiated bacteria can be accurately identified by MALDI-TOF MS in most cases, but a decrease in identification scores is observed.
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