NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
At the 115th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology,
Bruker (NASDAQ: BRKR) announced a major version 3.0 expansion of the
proven Mycobacteria Library for research use only on the MALDI
Biotyper microbial mass spectrometry system.
The new Mycobacteria Library 3.0 now includes 149
different species for comprehensive species coverage, enabling
significantly improved rapid and accurate identification of almost all
described mycobacteria species. Intra-species diversity is
covered by hundreds of analyzed strains. Twenty-four laboratories from
nine countries from all over the world provided well-characterized
clinical mycobacteria strains, completing an already comprehensive set
of isolates from strain collections. A recently published research study
has shown that out of 1,045 mycobacteria samples, 94% could be
identified on the species level with high confidence, and another 4.5%
could be identified with lower confidence [1], using Mycobacteria
Library 3.0.
The genus Mycobacterium includes, as major groups, the important
pathogens of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) and the
non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Members of the latter group
are increasingly the cause of opportunistic infections among
immuno-compromised patients. This trend and the rise of antibiotic
resistance in this genus require improved differentiation of mycobacteria
species.
The identification of mycobacteria is one of the most challenging tasks
of many microbiological research laboratories. For this purpose, Bruker
has developed the optimized MycoEx™ preparation protocol,
resulting in stream-lined and straightforward mycobacteria species
identification, while ensuring the safety of technicians processing such
samples. With the new MycoEx™ preparation protocol and the
new Mycobacteria Library 3.0, the MALDI Biotyper has
become an even more powerful research tool for the thorough
characterization of mycobacteria.
Dr. Arthur Pranada, Head of the Microbiology Laboratory, MVZ Dr.
Eberhard & Partner in Dortmund, Germany, commented: “According to our
experience, the MALDI Biotyper, combined with the new Mycobacteria
Library 3.0 and the optimized sample preparation protocol,
provide outstanding performance for identifying mycobacteria. The broad
range of covered species and the ease-of-use of the technology now allow
us to identify mycobacteria in medical microbiology research in a much
more precise way. We now can obtain identifications of rare and uncommon
species. In some research studies we even see species that formerly
could not be distinguished from other closely related mycobacteria by
our classical methods based on DNA hybridization. For example, in one
study we found a Mycobacterium arupense in a blood culture. To
date, only a few infections with this microorganism have been described.
We also were able to identify Mycobacterium marseillense from a
respiratory sample. This is a species newly described in 2009 and
closely related to other species in the Mycobacterium avium
complex. The species within the M. avium complex are known for
being difficult to get precisely differentiated by standard methods. The
latest identification accuracy of the MALDI Biotyper with
the Mycobacteria Library 3.0 also will help us to broaden
our knowledge of non-tuberculous mycobacteria and related infections.”
Mr. George Goedesky, the Bruker Daltonics Vice President responsible for
the MALDI Biotyper in the Americas, commented: “The new Mycobacteria
Library 3.0 supports research microbiologists in identifying
some of the most challenging microorganisms with very high performance.
Based on customer feedback, we believe that this significantly enhanced
and unmatched mycobacteria identification capability will further
establish the MALDI Biotyper as a standard research tool
of many microbiologists.”
[1] Pranada et al., Poster 1190, ECCMID 2015, Copenhagen, Denmark
About the Bruker MALDI Biotyper
The MALDI Biotyper family of systems enables molecular identification,
and taxonomical classification of microorganisms like bacteria, yeasts
and fungi. Classification and identification of microorganisms is
achieved reliably and quickly using proteomic fingerprinting by
high-throughput MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The MALDI Biotyper uses a
molecular approach based on specific proteomic fingerprints from
bacterial strains and published studies have highlighted the greater
accuracy and lower cost offered, as well as the much faster
time-to-result (TTR).
Applications of the various MALDI Biotyper solutions include
environmental and pharmaceutical analysis, taxonomical research, food
and consumer product safety and quality control, as well as veterinary
microbiology. In many European and international laboratories the MALDI
Biotyper has replaced classical biochemical testing for bacterial
identification due to the accuracy, speed, extensive species coverage,
ease of use and cost effectiveness of the system. Classical biochemical
techniques detect different metabolic properties of microorganisms, can
take many hours or even days for completion, and they often lack
specificity.
The robust MALDI Biotyper method requires minimal sample preparation and
offers low consumables cost. The products of the MALDI Biotyper family
are available in a research-use-only (RUO) version. RUO versions of the
MALDI Biotyper even allow selected high-value antimicrobial resistance
tests in translational research.
About Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR)
For more than 50 years, Bruker has enabled scientists to make
breakthrough discoveries and develop new applications that improve the
quality of human life. Bruker’s high-performance scientific research
instruments and high-value analytical solutions enable scientists to
explore life and materials at molecular, cellular and microscopic levels.
In close cooperation with our customers, Bruker is enabling innovation,
productivity and customer success in life science molecular research, in
applied and pharma applications, in microscopy, nano-analysis and
industrial applications, as well as in cell biology, preclinical
imaging, clinical research, microbiology and molecular diagnostics. For
more information, please visit: http://www.bruker.com.
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Source: Bruker Corporation