Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) represents a simple reliable approach for rapid bacterial identification based on specific peptide/protein fingerprints. However, cell-wall characteristics of mycobacterial species, and their well known stability, complicate MALDI-TOF MS profiling analysis. In this study, we tested two recently published protocols for inactivation and disruption of mycobacteria, and we also examined the influence of different culture conditions (four culture media and five cultivation times) on mass spectral quality and the discriminatory power of the method. We found a significant influence of sample pretreatment method and culture medium on species identification and differentiation for a total of 10 strains belonging to Mycobacterium phlei and Mycobacterium smegmatis. Optimum culture conditions yielding the highest identification success rate against the BioTyper database (Bruker Daltonics) and permitting the possibility of automatic acquisition of mass spectra were found to be distinct for the two mycobacterial species examined. Similarly, individual changes in growth conditions had diverse effects on the two species. For these reasons, thorough control over cultivation conditions should always be employed to maximize the performance and discriminatory power of MALDI-TOF MS profiling, and cultivation conditions must be optimized separately for individual groups of mycobacterial species/strains.

The genus Aeromonas comprises primarily aquatic bacteria and also serious human and animal pathogens with the occurrence in clinical material, drinking water, and food. Aeromonads are typical for their complex taxonomy and nomenclature and for limited possibilities of identification to the species level. According to studies describing the use of MALDI-TOF MS in diagnostics of aeromonads, this modern chemotaxonomical approach reveals quite high percentage of correctly identified isolates. We analyzed 64 Aeromonas reference strains from the set of 27 species. After extending the range of analyzed Aeromonas species by newly described ones, we proved that MALDI-TOF MS procedure accompanied by Biotyper tool is not a reliable diagnostic technique for aeromonads. We obtained quite high percentage of false-positive, incorrect, and uncertain results. The identification of newly described species is accompanied with misidentifications that were observed also in the case of pathogenic aeromonads.

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