Aspergillosis is the name of a group of diseases in humans and animals caused by
opportunist moulds of the genus Aspergillus. The vast majority of infections are
caused by A. fumigatus, followed by other species such as A. flavus, A. terreus
and A. niger. Among the pulmonary infection, aspergillosis is gaining prominent
position not only in immunocompromised patients, but also in immunosuppressed.
The absence of a reliable fungal identification system affects the control of
systemic fungal infections. Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption⁄Ionisation Time-Of-
Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a spectral technique that analysis
the chemical molecular mass of the microbial cellular composition providing rapid
and discriminatory fingerprints for identification. This technique starts to have
application in clinical laboratories.This work aimed to get a reliable identification of
Aspergillus isolates from section Nigri deposited at University of Recife Mycology
(URM) culture collection. These materials were used as clinical reference strains to
attend the great variability (morphology, biochemical, genomics and proteomics
patterns) of the Brazilian fungal population. A polyphasic approach based on
morphological, biochemical and spectral analysis by MALDI-TOF MS was applied
for the characterisation and identification of 74 Aspergillus isolates from section
Nigri deposited at URM. In addition, 12 Aspergillus type strains belonging to
section Nigri deposited at Micoteca da Universidade do Minho (MUM) culture
collection were used as reference for MALDI-TOF MS studies. The data obtained
from the polyphasic approach indicates that MALDI-TOF MS results corroborate
with those data obtained using classical taxonomy, biochemical and molecular
biology analyses. Finally, MALDI-TOF MS technique is rapid, reliable and
inexpensive in terms of labour and consumables when compared with other
biological techniques. At present, it adds an additional step for polyphasic
identification which is essential for the clinical diagnostic.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Brazil and Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window (EMECW
