You are here:
AGING OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM PARVUM OOCYSTS STUDIED BY MALDI-TF MS
Citation:
Magnuson*, M L., J H. Owens*, AND C A. Kelty*. AGING OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM PARVUM OOCYSTS STUDIED BY MALDI-TF MS. Presented at 2001 ASMS Conference, Chicago, IL, 5/26-31/2001.
Description:
Cryptosporidium parvum is an obligate protozoan parasite found in surface waters. It is the etiological agent for cryptosporidiosis, a parasitic infection that causes severe gastrointestinal illness which is potentially fatal among immuno-compromised individuals. This water borne pathogen has been the subject of several high profile disease outbreaks in the US and abroad. C. parvum presents challenges for both compliance monitoring and source water treatment technologies. One difficulty in performing treatment studies for C. parvum is the variability between sources of oocysts. Recently, we demonstrated the use of MALDI-TOF-MS as a tool for assessing lot-to-lot variability for our in-house C. parvum production facility. C. Parvum were analyzed by MALDI-TOF-MS after a freeze thawing sample workup that increased sensitivity over direct oocysts analysis. This results in a mass spectral fingerprint of approximately 20 peaks with mass >5000 m/z.