RESEARCH ARTICLE
Application of MALDI-TOF MS for the Identification of Food Borne Bacteria
Melanie Pavlovic, Ingrid Huber, Regina Konrad , Ulrich Busch*
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
First Page: 135
Last Page: 141
Publisher ID: TOMICROJ-7-135
DOI: 10.2174/1874285801307010135
Article History:
Received Date: 5/9/2013Revision Received Date: 21/10/2013
Acceptance Date: 21/10/2013
Electronic publication date: 15/11/2013
Collection year: 2013

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has recently emerged as a powerful tool for the routine identification of clinical isolates. MALDI-TOF MS based identification of bacteria has been shown to be more rapid, accurate and cost-efficient than conventional phenotypic techniques or molecular methods. Rapid and reliable identification of food-associated bacteria is also of crucial importance for food processing and product quality.
This review is concerned with the applicability of MALDI-TOF MS for routine identification of foodborne bacteria taking the specific requirements of food microbiological laboratories and the food industry into account. The current state of knowledge including recent findings and new approaches are discussed.