RT Journal Article
T1 MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry as a Rapid Screening Alternative for Non-tuberculous Mycobacterial Species Identification in the Veterinary Laboratory
A1 Lorente Leal, Víctor
A1 Liandris, Emmanouil
A1 Bezos Garrido, Javier
A1 Pérez Sancho, Marta
A1 Romero Martínez, Beatriz
A1 Juan Ferré, Lucía De
AB Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are difficult to identify by biochemical and genetic methods due to their microbiological properties and complex taxonomy. The development of more efficient and rapid methods for species identification in the veterinary microbiological laboratory is, therefore, of great importance. Although MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry (MS) has become a promising tool for the identification of NTM species in human clinical practise, information regarding its performance on veterinary isolates is scarce. This study assesses the capacity of MALDI-TOF MS to identify NTM isolates (n = 75) obtained from different animal species. MALDI-TOF MS identified 76.0% (n = 57) and 4% (n = 3) of the isolates with high and low confidence, respectively, in agreement with the identification achieved by Sanger sequencing of housekeeping genes (16S rRNA, hsp65, and rpoB). Thirteen isolates (17.3%) were identified by Sanger sequencing to the complex level, indicating that these may belong to uncharacterised species. MALDI-TOF MS approximated low confidence identifications toward closely related mycobacterial groups, such as the M. avium or M. terrae complexes. Two isolates were misidentified due to a high similarity between species or due to the lack of spectra in the database. Our results suggest that MALDI-TOF MS can be used as an effective alternative for rapid screening of mycobacterial isolates in the veterinary laboratory and potentially for the detection of new NTM species. In turn, Sanger sequencing could be implemented as an additional method to improve identifications in species for which MALDI-TOF MS identification is limited or for further characterisation of NTM species.
PB Frontiers Media
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133265
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133265
LA eng
NO Lorente-Leal V, Liandris E, Bezos J, Pérez-Sancho M, Romero B and Juan Ld (2022) MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry as a Rapid Screening Alternative for Non-tuberculous Mycobacterial Species Identification in the Veterinary Laboratory. Front. Vet. Sci. 9:827702. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.827702
NO Contribución de autores:VL-L performed all the experiments in this study. MP-S, EL, and BR participated in the design of the study. LJ, JB, and BR were responsible for obtaining the animal samples. VL-L wrote the manuscript with the insights of all the co-authors. BR and MP-S supervised the study. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.Becas/contratos:Víctor Lorente Leal: Beca predoctoral  2017–2018
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Banco Santander
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO European Commission
DS Docta Complutense
RD 28 mar 2026