Towards one sample per second for mass spectrometric screening of engineered microbial strains

Microbial cell factories convert renewable feedstocks into desirable chemicals and materials. Due to the lack of predictive modeling, high-throughput screening remains essential for microbial strain engineering. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a label-free modality with superior sensitivity and chemical specificity. Critical advances in improving the throughput of MS assays on complex microbial samples include massively parallel cultivation, robotic sample preparation, and chromatography-free instrumentation. Here, we review the recent development and application of rapid MS assays in screening microbial libraries, achieving or approaching a rate of one sample per second. We conclude with unique challenges associated with MS screening of strain libraries and discuss future solutions.