RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation–time of flight mass spectrometry for rapid identification of Laribacter hongkongensis JF Journal of Clinical Pathology JO J Clin Pathol FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Association of Clinical Pathologists SP 1081 OP 1083 DO 10.1136/jclinpath-2013-201651 VO 66 IS 12 A1 Bone S F Tang A1 Susanna K P Lau A1 Jade L L Teng A1 Tsz-Ming Chan A1 Wai-Sing Chan A1 Ting-Yin Wong A1 Yu-Ting Tong A1 Rachel Y Y Fan A1 Kwok-Yung Yuen A1 Patrick C Y Woo YR 2013 UL http://jcp.bmj.com/content/66/12/1081.abstract AB Laribacter hongkongensis is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, motile, S-shaped, urease-positive bacillus associated with invasive infections in liver cirrhosis patients and community-acquired gastroenteritis. Most cases of L hongkongensis infections occur in eastern countries. Information is lacking on the usefulness of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI–TOF MS) for the identification of bacteria important in eastern countries. Using the Bruker database extended with 21 L hongkongensis reference strains, all 240 L hongkongensis isolates recovered from patients, fish, frogs and water were correctly identified, with 224 (93.3%) strains having top match scores ≥2.0. Notably, the strain of Chromobacterium violaceum was not reliably identified although it is included in the database. MALDI–TOF MS is useful for the accurate routine identification of L hongkongensis after adding reference L hongkongensis main spectra to the database. The number of strains for each species in MALDI–TOF MS databases should be expanded to cover intraspecies variability.