Interactions between bacteriophages and mastitis pathogens: understanding their influence on bacterial biology and their potential for exploitation.

噬菌体和乳腺炎病原体之间的相互作用：了解它们对细菌生物学的影响及其开发潜力。

• 批准号: 2750151
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2750151
• 关键词: Interactions; between; bacteriophages; mastitis; pathogens

Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that specifically infect bacteria. Straddling the boundary of living and non-living entities these are fascinating to study from the perspective of understanding basic biology. However, they are also important clinically by shaping the evolution of bacterial pathogens with significant consequences for human and veterinary medicine. For instance, phages are a major vehicle for horizontal gene transfer between bacteria, contributing to the spread of genes encoding virulence factors such as toxins or antimicrobial resistance. By contrast, they can also be exploited as novel treatments for bacterial infections, either by using the phages themselves (phage therapy) or their cell-wall lytic enzymes. In the face of growing antibiotic resistance alternative treatments are much-needed and the exploitation of phages is an attractive potential option for this.This project will investigate the phages of bovine mastitis pathogens with the objectives being to evaluate their contribution to horizontal gene transfer and the potential to exploit them as novel therapies for mastitis. Mastitis, inflammation of the mammary gland, is one of the most common and economically important diseases in dairy cattle. Bovine mastitis causes reductions in milk yield and quality, and in severe cases the affected animal is culled. As a result, the annual cost of bovine mastitis to the UK dairy industry is estimated to be c. £200m with the worldwide cost projected to be $200bn. Furthermore, bovine mastitis is responsible for the use of large amounts of antimicrobial drugs with concomitant worries over the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance and the impact that this may have on both animal and human medicine. A variety of bacterial species are responsible for bovine mastitis with Escherichia coli, Streptococcus uberis, Staphylococcus aureus and other staphylococci typically being the most prevalent. Based in the Roslin Institute, the project benefits from world-class facilities with the Easter Bush campus being Europe's largest concentration of animal science research. The project offers a varied training experience in laboratory microbiology and bioinformatics supported in a collegiate environment. Specific techniques may include; bacterial culture, PCR, phage isolation, electron microscopy, DNA and RNA extraction, cloning, protein expression and genome analysis. There is a vibrant postgraduate community on campus (>150 PhD students) providing a rich diversity of scholarly and networking opportunities.

噬菌体（Bacteriophage，缩写为BPHs）是一种专门感染细菌的病毒。跨越生命和非生命实体的边界，从理解基础生物学的角度来研究这些是迷人的。然而，它们在临床上也很重要，因为它们塑造了细菌病原体的进化，对人类和兽医学产生了重大影响。例如，细菌是细菌之间水平基因转移的主要载体，有助于编码毒力因子（如毒素或抗菌素耐药性）的基因的传播。相比之下，它们也可以作为细菌感染的新疗法，无论是通过使用噬菌体本身（噬菌体疗法）还是它们的细胞壁裂解酶。在面对日益增长的抗生素耐药性的替代治疗是非常需要的，开发的抗生素是一个有吸引力的潜在选项，这一项目将调查的奶牛乳房炎病原体的抗生素，其目标是评估其贡献的水平基因转移和潜在的开发它们作为新的治疗乳腺炎。乳腺炎是奶牛最常见的疾病之一，也是奶牛生产中最重要的疾病。牛乳腺炎导致牛奶产量和质量下降，在严重的情况下，受影响的动物被淘汰。因此，英国乳制品行业每年的牛乳腺炎成本估计为c。2亿英镑，全球成本预计为2000亿美元。此外，牛乳腺炎是使用大量抗菌药物的原因，同时也担心抗菌药物耐药性的发展和传播以及这可能对动物和人类医学产生的影响。多种细菌物种导致牛乳房炎，其中大肠杆菌、链球菌、金黄色葡萄球菌和其他葡萄球菌通常是最普遍的。该项目位于罗斯林研究所，受益于世界一流的设施，复活节布什校园是欧洲最大的动物科学研究集中地。该项目提供了在大学环境中支持的实验室微生物学和生物信息学的各种培训经验。具体技术可能包括：细菌培养、PCR、噬菌体分离、电子显微镜、DNA和RNA提取、克隆、蛋白表达和基因组分析。校园里有一个充满活力的研究生社区（>150名博士生），提供了丰富多样的学术和网络机会。