Establishment of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry database and evaluation of different methods for cluster analysis of marine bacteria

. The expanded marine bacterial database markedly enhances the accuracy and reliability of MALDI-TOF MS for identifying marine pathogens. For species identification and traceability, we recommend a combined strategy that includes initial MALDI-TOF MS screening and verification with phylogenetic trees based on the ML method.