Detection of bacterial fish pathogens by MALDI-TOF MS- state of the art

Abstract

A key element in the diagnosis of bacterial infections in fish is the rapid identification of the etiologicalagent of the disease and drug resistance testing. Traditional methods of identifying the bacteria that causefish diseases are often slow and/or expensive. MALDI-TOF MS is a well-established, rapid, accurate andcost-effective method based on protein profile analysis for the identification of bacterial pathogens in humanand veterinary laboratories, and has now found application in the diagnosis of bacterial infections in fish. Themethod identifies microorganisms based on their protein profile, which is then compared with reference spectrastored in databases. Since not all bacterial fish pathogens are included in commercial databases, libraries areusually created locally for the relevant reference strains/species. As studies have shown, MALDI-TOF MS issuitable for the specific identification of many bacterial fish pathogens enabling rapid diagnosis of infections