Bruker Autoflex Max MALDI/TOF-MS

MALDI/TOF-MS is a powerful tool for analyzing a variety of different analytes including small molecules (metabolites), lipids, nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, and polymers ranging in molecular mass from 100 Da up to 200 kDa or more. For analysis by MALDI, a sample is mixed or coated with an energy-absorbing matrix and then irradiated with a laser beam. Singly protonated (positive ionization mode) or deprotonated (negative ionization mode) molecular ions are formed and detected by a time-of-flight mass analyzer. The Bruker Autoflex MALDI/TOF-MS is also capable of rapid microbial identification. This is accomplished by acquiring mass spectra of individual microbial colonies. The resulting protein fingerprint is compared to a user-generated database of reference spectra to enable identification at the genus and species level.