A 1 µL sample drop sitting in a spot on a brushed-steel BACLIB MALDI target plate

BACLIB · Early access

Microbial ID in one hour, direct from specimen.

BACLIB reads each microbe’s membrane lipid fingerprint by MALDI mass spectrometry. No days of culture.

Register for early access How BACLIB works

A 1 µL sample drop on a MALDI target plate developed by Pataigin for BACLIB

BACLIB is for research use only.

How BACLIB works

Lipid fingerprints

Each microbial species expresses a unique ‘fingerprint’ of lipids in its membrane. BACLIB identifies pathogens in a specimen by detecting species-specific lipid fingerprints in a mass spectrum of microbial lipids.

The BACLIB method

BACLIB extracts those lipids right on the MALDI target, with no culture, and reads the fingerprint by mass spectrometry. Minimal handling keeps sensitivity high and hands-on time low.

  1. 11 µL of specimen onto the target
  2. 2Apply buffer
  3. 3Heat for 30 minutes
  4. 4Rinse with water
  5. 5Apply 1 µL of matrix, then read by MALDI
FLAT, the Fast Lipid Analysis Technique. For research use only.

Antimicrobial susceptibility

Some forms of antimicrobial resistance are detected as part of the initial one-hour ID test. A second step determines MICs within six hours of sample collection.

Species and resistance, from the same specimen

Some resistance shows up in the one-hour ID itself. A second step gives MICs within six hours.

+123 Da

the mcr-1 shift in lipid A that signals colistin resistance

Colistin resistance, inside the one-hour ID

Some resistance is written into the membrane itself. The mcr-1 plasmid adds a phosphoethanolamine to lipid A, which makes it harder for colistin to cross the membrane and adds 123 Da to the molecule. BACLIB reads that shift while it identifies the species.

Resistant versus susceptible BACLIB spectra for E. coli, K. pneumoniae, A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa. In each resistant strain the main lipid A peak sits 123 Da heavier, for example from m/z 1796 to 1919 in E. coli.
Four Gram-negative species with and without mcr-1: the resistant lipid A peak sits 123 Da heavier.Sorensen et al., Scientific Reports 2020

MICs in six hours

BACLIB Rapid AST grows samples of the specimen across a range of antibiotic concentrations in media with a small share of deuterium oxide (D2O). Cells that grow build heavier lipids; the lowest concentration with no shift is the MIC. Conventional AST takes up to three days.

BACLIB Rapid AST spectra for P. fluorescens grown with kanamycin from 0 to 200 µg/mL. Deuterium-shifted lipid peaks are present up to 12.5 µg/mL and disappear at 50 µg/mL.
P. fluorescens with kanamycin: growth stops showing at 50 µg/mL, the MIC.Sorensen et al., ASMS 2020