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Identification of Micoorganisms by Mass Spectrometry

Edited by Charles L. Wilkins and Jackson O. Lay, Jr.

Edited by Charles L. Wilkins and Jackson O. Lay, Jr.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Two researchers have edited a book describing ways to identify bacteria using mass spectrometry, a technique that may one day lead to early detection of biological terrorism threats.

Charles L. Wilkins, Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and Jackson O. Lay Jr., director of the UA Mass Spectrometry Facility, wrote chapters for and edited the book, which provides an overview of the field and the current research in specific areas.

The book will help experts from two diverse fields learn more about the other field, enhancing both.

Advances in mass spectrometry have allowed researchers to examine samples with higher masses, and advances in computational science have created larger databases, which can contain information on the myriad of proteins found in different bacteria.

Lay and Rohana Liyanage wrote two chapters on a technique known by its acronym, MALDI-MS.  Lay published the first paper on MALDI mass spectrometry and bacteria in 1996 and has researched this area extensively since then.

Wilkins wrote about a technique that he pioneered using a form of MALDI-MS called Fourier transform mass spectrometry.