Projects
Guarantee the safety of live Salmonella vaccines by introducing deletions in genes crucial for egg contamination Ghent University
Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Enteritidis is a pandemic pathogen, present in
countries with industrial poultry production since the 1990s. Ingestion of this foodborne
pathogen by humans results in gastroenteritis and is linked to contaminated eggs and egg
products. Salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Enteritidis in chickens however does not lead to
clinical symptoms but causes enormous economic losses. ...
Chicken (Gallus gallus) based models to reveal insights into interaction between Salmonella, microbiota and the host during early infection and vaccination KU Leuven
Bacteria in the gut live in dense and genetically diverse communities, in which they strongly compete with each other for resources and space. A key corollary of the importance of competition is that it should strongly shape bacterial regulatory networks. Indeed, natural selection should favor cells that can detect and respond appropriately to the presence of competing strains. We hypothesize that these defensive responses to competition are ...
Effect of vaccination against Salmonella Typhimurium in pigs under field conditions Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
The general aim of the project is to improve the control of Salmonella infections of pigs to deliver scientifically sound advice about the effect of vaccination against Salmonella under field conditions and its eventual implementation in a national control program. The specific objectives are: 1. To investigate to which extent vaccination of sows and/or piglets can play a role in the control of ...
Phage-host interactions in the Salmonella Typhimurium - temperate phage P22 model system KU Leuven
Part 1:
Many phage genes lack sequence similarity to any other open reading frame (ORF) in current databases. These enigmatic ORFan genes can have a tremendous impact on phage propagation and host interactions but often remain experimentally unexplored. We previously revealed a novel interaction between phage P22 and its Salmonella Typhimurium host, instigated by the ORFan gene pid (for phage P22 ...
Investigation of the influence of prophages on the physiology and virulence of emerging invasive non-typhoid Salmonella Typhimurium (iNTS) KU Leuven
Bacteria are engaged in a never-ending struggle with their viral predators, termed bacteriophages or phages. This resulted in millennia of intimate co-evolution between bacteria and their viruses, thereby fueling the development of sophisticated infection dynamics. One of these peculiar interactions, is the formation of a phage carrier state by temperate phage P22 upon infection of its host, Salmonella Typhimurium. This phenomenon ...
The rational design and validation of a Salmonella Typhimurium vaccin by deletion of virulence genes for use in pigs Ghent University
In this project, extensively characterized, live, attenuated vaccinstrains of Salmonella Typhimurium are made. These strains should evoke a good protection against a Salmonella infection in pigs and be attenuated in humans, animals and the environment. In addition, the pigs vaccinated with these strains, should be serologically distinguishable from pigs infected with field strains of Salmonella in the current national Salmonella pig control ...
Effect of vaccination against Salmonella Typhimurium in pigs under field conditions Ghent University
Salmonella infections are very common in Belgian pig farms. The infection is hard to control with the current control measures. This research project will investigate to what extend vaccination against Salmonella can be used to improve the control of Salmonella in pigs. The possible implementation in a new national control program against Salmonella is investigated.
The involvement of multidrug resistance pumps in the survival of Salmonella Enteritidis in egg white. Ghent University
Salmonella Enteritidis is superior in colonizing egg white. Host stress induced changes in the egg white peptide composition, may result in survival of Salmonella which is using multidrug resistance pumps to export egg white-derived antimicrobial agents. Unraveling the differential expression in stressed animals and identity of egg white components exported by Salmonella is of crucial importance in understanding egg infections.
Optimization of Salmonella control in pigs Ghent University
Pigs represent a vast reservoir of Salmonella Typhimurium infections for humans. In this project, the contribution of vaccination and feed additives to an efficient Salmonella control program will be studied.