Location: Poultry Production and Product Safety Research
Project Number: 6022-32420-001-017-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2018
End Date: Aug 31, 2023
Objective:
Apply multi-omics approaches to study pathogen colonization, gut microbiota function, health and productivity parameters in poultry. Develop antibiotic alternatives as potential intervention/control strategies to reduce the colonization of the foodborne pathogens Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry. Improve the antimicrobial efficacy of antibiotic alternatives with use of novel compound carriers and delivery methods.
Approach:
USDA-ARS and University of Connecticut are both interested in the development of antibiotic alternatives to control poultry associated food borne pathogens. Enteric pathogens such as Salmonella and Campylobacter colonize poultry gut in high numbers leading to carcass contamination and subsequent food borne illness in humans. A multi-omics approach that studies the genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic profile of pathogens in poultry gut, on poultry products and in the processing environment can shed valuable light on critical pathophysiological pathways required for survival and infection. Our research team has conducted several studies on the efficacy of natural alternatives for controlling poultry associated foodborne pathogens in poultry and poultry products. These compounds are all natural (including trans-cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, carvacrol, caprylic acid), have been listed as “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) by the FDA, and have demonstrated significant pathogen control efficacy. However, their genome wide effect on pathogens and the mechanism(s) by which they exert their antimicrobial effect is relatively unknown. Similarly, not much is known about changes in host physiological state when exposed to these antibiotic alternatives. The effect of various antibiotic alternatives on poultry gut microbiota will be investigated using Illumina Mi-seq plateform. The changes in transcriptome and proteome profiles of pathogen and host in response to antibiotic alternatives will be investigated using Illumina Hi-Seq and LC-MS/MS systems.
