title: [Bacterial identification methods in the microbiology laboratory].
abstract: In order to identify the agent responsible of the infectious process and understanding the pathogenic/pathological implications, clinical course, and to implement an effective antimicrobial therapy, a mainstay in the practice of clinical microbiology is the allocation of species to a microbial isolation. In daily routine practice microbiology laboratory phenotypic techniques are applied to achieve this goal. However, they have some limitations that are seen more clearly for some kinds of microorganism. Molecular methods can circumvent some of these limitations, although its implementation is not universal. This is due to higher costs and the level of expertise required for thei implementation, so molecular methods are often centralized in reference laboratories and centers. Recently, proteomics-based methods made an important breakthrough in the field of diagnostic microbiology and will undoubtedly have a major impact on the future organization of the microbiology services. This paper is a short review of the most noteworthy aspects of the three bacterial identification methods described above used in microbiology laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Microbiología, Complejo Hospitalario Universitario, La Coruña, España. german.bou.arevalo@sergas.es
authors.forename: Germán
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bou
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fernández-Olmos
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Juan Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sáez-Nieto
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valdezate
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000191:economics; D008829:Microbiology; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010641:Phenotype; D040901:Proteomics; D021521:Ribotyping / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013030:Spain; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial