Research Projects

ABSTRACT

Campylobacter spp. cause food-borne illnesses worldwide due to contaminated food and cross-contamination. This is at least partly the consequence of Campylobacter resistance during the food-production chain, as modern food production facilitates emergence and spread of resistance through intensive use of antimicrobial agents and international trade in raw materials and food products. In additiona, the incidence and prevalence of campylobacteriosis is still increasing, which is mainly associated with consumption of undercooked poultry meat products, and with outbreaks arising from contaminated water. Campylobacter adhesion and biofilm formation has major implications in the food industry, where biofilms can create persistent sources of contamination while conferring survival benefits to Campylobacter through industrial processes and transmission to the next host. Novel strategies are needed to reduce bacterial contamination and to control Campylobacter in foods. In his project we will use Campylobacter as our model to develop novel strategies to combat contamination and infection, through targeting the mechanisms of action that are not sensitive to the ever-increasing repertoire of bacterial resistance mechanisms. The proposed project specifically addresses the issue of understanding the mechanisms by which Campylobacter adhere to surfaces, which is crucial for the application of novel antimicrobial strategies

THE PHASES OF THE PROJECT AND THEIR REALIZATION

WP1: Involvement of important Campylobacter cellular mechanisms in Campylobacter adherence

• Task 1.1: Adhesion of defined mutants in cellular mechanisms
• Task 1.2: Mechanism of Campylobacter adhesion at the level of their morphology
• Realisation in month of project: from 1 to 13 month

WP2: New target molecules in the extracellular matrix that are important for Campylobacter adhesion

• Task 2.1. Using lectins to interfere with Campylobacter adhesion
• Task 2.2. Analysis of protein targets in Campylobacter extracellular matrix
• Realisation in month of project: from 6 to 17 month

WP3: Mechanisms of Campylobacter adhesion at the level of the transcriptome

• Task 3.1. RNA-seq of adhered Campylobacter cells
• Task 3.2. Statistical analysis of RNA-seq
• Realisation in month of project: from 11 to 23 month

WP4: Mechanisms of bacterial adhesion at the level of the proteome

• Task 4.1. Proteomic analysis of outer membrane proteins of Campylobacter
• Task 4.2. Proteomic analysis of intracellular proteins of Campylobacter
• Realisation in month of project: from 20 to 35 month

WP5: Proposed strategies to target adhesion for reduction of C. jejuni contamination in the food chain

• Task 5.1 Integration of the data obtained from WP1 to WP4 and target conformation
• Task 5.2. Proposed strategies to prevent adhesion
• Realisaton in month of project: from 14 to 356 month

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