Novel approaches for rapid bacterial detection using 15N phage amplification detection (PAD) and mass spectrometry are introduced. Using Staphylococcus aureus as a representative infectious bacterium, 15N PAD is coupled with MALDI-TOF MS and LC-ESI/MS/MS for unambiguous bacterial detection. When compared to existing PAD technology, the methods’ benefits are two-fold (i) incubation times are reduced by infecting S. aureus with a high titer of 15N phage which decreases overall analysis time, and (ii) by metabolically modifying the bacteriophage, the 15N input phage is distinguishable from the wild-type 14N output phage used for detection; enhancing the selectivity of the PAD platform.
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