Identifying microbes via mass spectrometry: An inquiry-based educational tool

<p>Microbial identification is central to the science of microbiology – and features prominently in the curriculum. From phenotypic and morphological classifications to nucleic acid-based genealogy tracking, and recently, mass spectrometry-based identification, significant advances have been made in developing instruments and methods capable of delivering rapid and accurate detection and identification of microbes at reasonable cost. Nevertheless, despite availability of commercial instruments from a number of manufacturers and increasing adoption by clinical laboratories, theoretical principles and operational aspects of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)-based microbial typing has not generally been incorporated into the undergraduate curriculum. To help bridge the curriculum gap, I developed a simple inquiry-based laboratory exercise for introducing mass spectrometry-based microbial identification to students. Specifically, by carrying out the full spectrum of activities comprising field sampling, cell culture, as well as mass spectrometry analysis and interpretation, students actively engaged in a discovery-based exercise designed to teach microbial biotyping, while also igniting their curiosity and spirit of inquiry by solving a research question with unknown answers: What are the microorganisms present in an environmental water sample? An abstract of the work can be found in the accompanying PDF file, while the original article, “Teaching Microbial Identification with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and Bioinformatics Tools,” has been published in the <em>Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, </em>Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 103-106, and together with the supplementary material, is available at <a href="http://jmbe.asm.org/index.php/jmbe/article/view/494">http://jmbe.asm.org/index.php/jmbe/article/view/494</a> as an open-access article.