Technology:c

Dr. Bettina Warscheid and Dr. Catherine Fenselau

A number of approaches have been used in the past for applying the analytic power of mass spectrometry to microorganisms. Among these electrospray ionization and matrix assisted laser desorption mass spectrometry have provided access to cellular proteins as biomarkers. More recently enzymatic cleavage of proteins on the sample holder for direct analysis of peptides has also been proposed to provide an easy, rapid analysis of simple viruses. However, applying this strategy to more complex microorganisms produces a large mixture of peptides, poor signal to noise ratios, poor sensitivity for tandem mass spectrometry experiments, and poor reproducibility. The presently used technology cannot distinguish between closely related species and strains of Bacillus spores.

Researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland have developed a novel method for identifying and distinguishing Bacillus spores. In addition, this novel method can identify Bacillus spores in mixed and badly contaminated samples.

This technology has recently been non-exclusively licensed to Science & Engineering Services, Inc.

For additional information, please contact Gayatri Varma at the Office of Technology Commercialization, University of Maryland. Phone: 301-403-2711. E-mail: gayatri@umd.edu.