Projects
Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) for inactivation of pathogenic biofilms - Case study on foodborne Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium KU Leuven
The last decades, it has become clear that most (pathogenic) bacteria, such as the target microorganisms of this PhD research (i.e., Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium), grow predominantly as biofilms on abiotic (food) contact surfaces. Biofilms are functional consortia of cells protected by a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The EPS matrix mainly contains polysaccharides, ...
More rapid and accurate identification of (zoonotic) Salmonella serotypes subjected to official control in poultry and pork Ghent University
In the scope of the combat against zoonotic Salmonella it is crucial to rapidly identify serotypes that may not contaminate the food chain. The classical method for serotyping by slide agglutination following the Kauffmann-Le Minor Scheme is time consuming and requires carefully trained personnel. It is for these reasons that this methode is fully mastered in only one laboratory in Belgium (Human NRC, IPH).
Our project is composed of 5 ...
Rational design of small molecule modulators targeting the transcriptional function of the Salmonella Typhimurium response regulator PhoP KU Leuven
Pathogenic bacteria have acquired resistance against most clinical antibiotics. Infectious diseases caused by these bacteria are one of the biggest challenges in public health. There is an urgent need to develop new mechanisms to treat infectious diseases. Traditional antibiotics are designed for their ability to kill or inhibit the growth of pathogens. Both mechanisms induce strong selective antibiotic resistance pressure. It has been ...
The mechanism of cortisol induced proliferation of Salmonella Typhimurium inside porcine macrophages Ghent University
Stress induces recrudescence of Salmonella infections in pigs, which is correlated with cortisol induced increase of intracellular bacterial proliferation inside the porcine macrophages. In this project, the underpinning mechanism is determined.
Salmonella Typhimurium in multispecies biofilms: identification and validation of targets of biofilm inhibitors by a mechanistic approach. KU Leuven
Riboproteogenomics of the sORF-encoded Salmonella peptidome Ghent University
Recent developments in the field of ribosome profiling enabled the measurement of translation on a genome-wide scale by massive parallel sequencing of ribosome-protected messenger RNA fragments When combined with trapping of initiating 70S ribosomes at start codons, the genome-wide identification of small open reading frames (sORFs) and de novo translation start site assignment in bacteria is facilitated Viewing their greatly understudied ...
Effect of meat physical structure and various cooking appliances on thermal inactivation of salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., verotoxin producing Escherichia coli and Liseria monocytogenes. Ghent University
Our study is to systematically gather information on inactivation kinetics for several strains of the "big four pathogens" in a variety of meat types and under a variety of cooking conditions to feed this in risk assessment studies needed bu meat processing businesses, food service operations and competent authorities.
Perturbations in nucleotide biosynthesis inhibits Salmonella biofilm formation KU Leuven
The overall goal of this project was to investigate the molecular link between nucleotide metabolism and biofilm formation, with a particular focus on pyrimidine starvation. The potential of using nucleoside based drugs as antibacterial compounds was also explored.
In order to determine which intermediates in the de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis pathways are required for biofilm formation, a set of single gene knockout mutants ...
The prevalence of Salmonella Pullorum/Gallinarum in commercial and backyard poultry flocks Ghent University
Recent outbreaks of S. Pullorum/Gallinarum on layer farms are of great concern for the poultry industry. To date, no information on the prevalence and spread of S. Gallinarum is available. This study aims to determine the prevalence of S. Gallinarum in commercial and backyard poultry flocks and to see whether the different isolated strains are linked with each other, using genotyping.