MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry in clinical and environmental microbiology

• Presentazione
• Within the last decade, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has become a basic technology for the identification of microorganisms in clinical and environmental samples. In 2008, the Laboratory of applied microbiology (LMA) of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) was one of the first in Switzerland to adopt this system for the identification of microorganisms and has now many years of experience. In addition, in 2016 LMA acquired a second instrument and, as a consequence, all the databases currently available in Switzerland are now in use. By comparison with spectra from these databases, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry allows simple and fast identification of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi. Furthermore, LMA also applies this technique to higher organisms such as zoo- and phytoplankton, insects, fish, etc.
• Obiettivi
• To introduce the participants to the basics of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, by performing different applications for the identification and typing of microorganisms from clinical and environmental samples (bacteria, filamentous fungi, yeasts) and from insects (mosquitoes). In addition, a series of presentations given by experts in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry provides the basic theoretical concepts and the appropriate tools for an evaluation of the quality of the analyses.
• Crediti di studio
• 1 ECTS