title: Identification of Rare Bacterial Pathogens by 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing and MALDI-TOF MS.
abstract: There are a number of rare and, therefore, insufficiently described bacterial pathogens which are reported to cause severe infections especially in immunocompromised patients. In most cases only few data, mostly published as case reports, are available which investigate the role of such pathogens as an infectious agent. Therefore, in order to clarify the pathogenic character of such microorganisms, it is necessary to conduct epidemiologic studies which include large numbers of these bacteria. The methods used in such a surveillance study have to meet the following criteria: the identification of the strains has to be accurate according to the valid nomenclature, they should be easy to handle (robustness), economical in routine diagnostics and they have to generate comparable results among different laboratories. Generally, there are three strategies for identifying bacterial strains in a routine setting: 1) phenotypic identification characterizing the biochemical and metabolic properties of the bacteria, 2) molecular techniques such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing and 3) mass spectrometry as a novel proteome based approach. Since mass spectrometry and molecular approaches are the most promising tools for identifying a large variety of bacterial species, these two methods are described. Advances, limitations and potential problems when using these techniques are discussed.
authors: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden; percy.schroettner@tu-dresden.de.
authors: Percy
authors: P
authors: Schröttner
authors: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden.
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: Gunzer
authors: Institut für Virologie, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden.
authors: Jana
authors: J
authors: Schüppel
authors: Institut für Virologie, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden.
authors: Wolfram W
authors: WW
authors: Rudolph
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S