Does the Capsule Interfere with Performance of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry for Identification of Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii?

• Published in: Journal of clinical microbiology Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 474 - 477
• Main Authors: Thomaz, Danilo Y, Grenfell, Rafaella C, Vidal, Monica S M, Giudice, Mauro C, Del Negro, Gilda M B, Juliano, Luiz, Benard, Gil, de Almeida Júnior, João N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Microbiology 01-02-2016
• Subjects: Cryptococcosis - diagnosis; Cryptococcosis - microbiology; Cryptococcus gattii - classification; Cryptococcus gattii - genetics; Cryptococcus neoformans; Cryptococcus neoformans - classification; Cryptococcus neoformans - genetics; Genotype; Humans; Mycological Typing Techniques - methods; Mycology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Serogroup; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization - methods
• ISSN: 0095-1137; 1098-660X
• DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02635-15

We described the impact of the capsule size for Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii identification at the species level by Bruker matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). After experimental capsule size modulation, we observed that reducing the capsule size resulted in improved identification by Bruker MALDI-TOF MS across all of the reference strains analyzed.