A comprehensive Contamination Control Strategy (CCS) includes microbial identifications of bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi.
Filamentous fungi identifications in particular are a growing concern for manufacturers’ quality control efforts. Charles River recognises the need for more options when it comes to reliable species-level filamentous fungi identification.
The company’s Accugenix laboratories recently launched a validated and comprehensive MALDI-TOF fungal identification service.
Charles River has built a substantial filamentous fungi MALDI library. This library, combined with a robust sample processing method using specialised media called Conidia IDFP (ID-fungi plates), generates a significantly higher identification rate compared to the industry average.
Conidia addresses two major points for fungal identification using MALDI: first, they promote fast and sufficient mycelial growth on a membrane for testing; second, the separation of mycelia from the agar by the membrane enables efficient harvesting without any interfering proteins from the agar.
Charles River has partnered with Conidia to make these plates available globally. Submitting samples that are already growing on Conidia will speed up customers’ time to results.
The following educational resources are available:
- On-Demand Webinar: Optimizing MALDI-TOF for Filamentous Fungi Identification
- Poster: Evaluation and Optimization of MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry for Identification of Filamentous Fungi for Environmental Monitoring
- Technical sheet: Conidia IDFP for Filamentous Fungi Identifications.
It is recommended that any urgent fungal samples are submitted for identification via the Accugenix DNA sequencing service, which offers faster turnaround time options, including one-day and same-day.
Contact Charles River with any questions here.
