Location: Poultry Production and Product Safety Research
Project Number: 6022-32420-001-043-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2023
End Date: Dec 31, 2024
Objective:
Research Objectives:
1. Reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni colonization in broiler chickens by in-ovo vaccination.
2. Reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni in farm and processing environment surfaces by phytochemical emulsions and encapsulated probiotics.
3. Reduce Salmonella colonization in layer chickens and turkeys via drinking water supplementation of phytochemical emulsions and encapsulated probiotics.
4. Improve gut health and production efficiency in layer chickens via drinking water supplementation of phytochemical emulsions and encapsulated probiotics.
5. Cost/benefit and consumer perception analysis on the research, extension and education efforts of the project.
Extension and Education Objectives:
1. Disseminate project results to scientific community through conferences, symposia and webinars.
2. Conduct outreach to the organic poultry community and stakeholders through workshops, social media and focus group meetings.
3. Measure the impact of outreach efforts through surveys and post-program evaluations.
4. Developing instructional materials and incorporation into existing university curriculum.
5. Developing an online certificate program focusing on organic poultry production.
Approach:
The project team assembled has a complex and complementary set of interdisciplinary scientific and practical skills necessary successfully complete the research under the proposed objectives. The USDA ARS, Fayetteville will be associated with the research objectives 1 and 2.
Objective 1: Reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni colonization in broiler chickens by in-ovo vaccination. For this objective, we will prepare a vaccine using electron beam technology and determine its efficacy in in reducing colonization of two major poultry associated foodborne pathogens, Salmonella and Campylobacter. We will conduct bird studies to determine the efficacy of the eBeam vaccine in reducing and/or eliminating Salmonella and Campylobacter colonization in broiler chickens. We will also conduct microbiome analysis to determine the effect of vaccination on the intestinal microflora.
Objective 2: Reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter jejuni in farm and processing environment surfaces by phytochemical emulsions and encapsulated probiotics.
For this study we will prepare emulsions of plant compounds using food grade emulsifiers to enhance plant compound solubility, antimicrobial efficacy and uniformity of treatments. The nano emulsions will be characterized for the droplet size and poly disperity index (PDI) using Zetasizer Nano. Stable nano emulsions will be further evaluated for their efficacy to inhibit and/or inactivate Campylobacter and Salmonella biofilms on common food contact surfaces.
Further, we will investigate the potential mechanism(s) of action of phytochemicals on bacterial biofilms (C. jejuni or Salmonella) in the presence of subinhibitory concentrations of phytochemicals. Proteins were extracted from biofilm using bacterial protein extraction reagent and subjected to SDS-PAGE followed by in-gel tryptic digestion and LC-MS/MS based targeted protein quantification. Similar methods were used for studying the proteome from planktonic cells. Proteins will be identified using Tandem Mass spectrometry and any differential expression of key proteins during biofilm formation compared to planktonic cells may help in understanding the mechanisms contributing to biofilm formation.
