Evaluation of the ASTA MicroIDSys matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry system for identification of mycobacteria directly from positive MGIT liquid cultures

•The MicroIDSys Elite system evaluated for mycobacterial identification from liquid medium.•High accuracy (98.4%) for detection of 63 reference strains.•Prospective performance evaluation analyzed using 167 paired cultures.•>85% correct identification of isolates from both primary cultures and subcultures.