Characterizing Cellular Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Profiles to Identify Bacteria Using Gas Chromatography

Practical, accurate methods for bacterial identification are of great interest in fields ranging from clinical diagnostics to food safety. When paired with highly inert, lowbleed columns of appropriate selectivity, gas chromatography is one of the most efficient analytical separation methods available. The fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analyses shown here illustrate the potential of GC-TOFMS for distinguishing clinically relevant species and identifying low-level compounds in these complex biological samples.