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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Rapid Identification of Gram Negative Bacteria from Blood Culture Broth Using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Published on: May 28, 2014
MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and high-consequence bacteria: safety and stability of biothreat bacterial sample testing
Dobryan M Tracz1, Ashley D Tober1, Kym S Antonation1
1National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, 1015 Arlington Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 3R2, Canada.
Abstract:
We considered the application of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for BSL-3 bacterial diagnostics, with a focus on the biosafety of live-culture direct-colony testing and the stability of stored extracts. Biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) bacterial species were used as surrogates for BSL-3 high-consequence pathogens in all live-culture MALDI-TOF experiments. Viable BSL-2 bacteria were isolated from MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry target plates after 'direct-colony' and 'on-plate' extraction testing, suggesting that the matrix chemicals alone cannot be considered sufficient to inactivate bacterial culture and spores in all samples. Sampling of the instrument interior after direct-colony analysis did not recover viable organisms, suggesting that any potential risks to the laboratory technician are associated with preparation of the MALDI-TOF target plate before or after testing. Secondly, a long-term stability study (3 years) of stored MALDI-TOF extracts showed that match scores can decrease below the threshold for reliable species identification (<1.7), which has implications for proficiency test panel item storage and distribution.
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