“…As shown in Appendix C, Table C.1 lists the peaks of E. coli. directly analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS. Ions with peaks at m / z = 4365, 5381, 6255, 6411, 6849, 7274, 7871, 8604 and 9554 were reported in previous studies ( Yan et al, 2020 , Feng et al, 2020 , Božik et al, 2018 ). In the present study, based on the big datasets of mass spectra and 34 biomarker ions discovered by assistance of variables importance in projection (VIP) analysis, the ions with m / z = 4365, 4759, 5381, 6255, 6411, 6847, 7274, 7873, 8604 and 9554 with relatively large signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) are preferentially recommended as the biomarker ions for the identification of E. coli from different food matrices via MALDI-TOF MS.…”