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This Article Full Text (Papers in Press[PDF]) All Versions of this Article: jmm.0.009647-0v1 58/9/1154    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Google Scholar Articles by Fournier, P. E. Articles by Raoult, D. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fournier, P. E. Articles by Raoult, D. Agricola Articles by Fournier, P. E. Articles by Raoult, D.

Rapid and cost-effective identification of Bartonella species using Mass spectrometry

¹ Universite de la Mediterranee;

² Hopital de la Timone, marseille, France;

³ Hopital de la Timone, Marseille, France

⁴ E-mail: pierre-edouard.fournier{at}medecine.univ-mrs.fr

Received January 18, 2009
Accepted May 20, 2009

Bacteria of the genus Bartonella are emerging zoonotic bacteria recognized in a variety of human diseases. Due to their poor chemical reactivity, these fastidious bacteria are poorly characterized using routine phenotypic laboratory tests. Identification is usually achieved using molecular techniques that are time-consuming, expensive, and technically demanding. Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has emerged as a new technique for bacterial species identification. We evaluated the use of MALDI-TOF MS for rapid genus and species identification of Bartonella species. Reference strains representing 17 validated Bartonella species were studied. For each species, MS spectra for four colonies were analyzed. The consensus spectrum obtained for each species was unique among spectra obtained for 2,843 bacteria within the Bruker database, including 109 alpha-proteobacteria. Thirty-nine additional blind-coded Bartonella strains were correctly identified at the species level, including 36 with a significant score. Altogether, these data demonstrate that mass spectrometry is an accurate and reproducible tool for rapid and inexpensive identification of Bartonella species.