AUTHOR=Robinne Simon , Saad Jamal , Morsli Madjid , Hamidou Zelika Harouna , Tazerart Fatah , Drancourt Michel , Baron Sophie Alexandra 

TITLE=Rapid Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Using Mass Spectrometry: A Proof of Concept

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.753969

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.753969

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=Mycobacteria that form the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex are responsible for deadly tuberculosis in animals and patients. Identification of these pathogens at the species level is of primary importance for treatment and source tracing, and currently relies on DNA analysis, including whole genome sequencing (WGS), which takes a whole day. In this study, we report on the unprecedented discrimination of the M. tuberculosis complex species using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), with WGS as the comparative reference standard. In a first step, an optimised peptide extraction applied to 36 isolates otherwise identified in five of the 11 M. tuberculosis complex variants by WGS yielded 139 MALDI-TOF spectra which were used to identify biomarkers of interest that can allow differentiation between variants. In a second step, 70/80 (88%) other isolates were correctly classified by an algorithm on the basis of specific peaks. This study is the first to report a MALDI-TOF-MS method of discrimination of M. tuberculosis complex mycobacteria, easily implantable in clinical microbiology laboratories.