| Popis: |
In the food and water industry, a rapid response to bacterial contamination is often required to avoid public health risks or product recalls. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a widely used technique in clinical testing, but so far relatively unexplored in commercial microbiological testing laboratories. In this chapter, we describe and then compare MALDI-TOF MS with current confirmation methods. We then highlight the advantages of this technique that include revolutionary cost-reduction, significant time-saving, and ease of use. We include a detailed example of a validation study for the speciation of a major food pathogen, Listeria spp. in a range of food matrices. This involved performing both MALDI-TOF speciation and traditional ISO 17025 confirmation methods. Not only did MALDI-TOF proved to be equivalent or better than current confirmation methods, but also it displayed a consistent species identification rate of 97%, regardless of food matrix, method, or media type. This chapter highlights the successful integration of this technique in a very busy UKAS accredited commercial microbiology laboratory. |
