Interactions Between Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens and the Microbiome

食源性细菌病原体与微生物组之间的相互作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-05641
• 负责人: Ronholm, Jennifer
• 金额: $ 2.7万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=686950
• 关键词: Interactions; Between; Foodborne; Bacterial; Pathogens

Most foodborne bacterial pathogens originate in the gastrointestinal tract of food-producing animals and contaminate food-products during production, processing, or distribution. If the overall abundance of bacterial pathogens was reduced on the farm it would result in a decrease in the burden of foodborne illness. In the gastrointestinal tract of food-producing animals, bacterial pathogens interact with resident non-pathogenic bacteria, hereafter referred to as the microbiome. In a healthy animal, the gastrointestinal microbiome is composed of a diverse and dynamic bacterial population. Competition for resources in this environment is fierce. In the last year, several enteric bacterial pathogens have been shown to contain a range of systems that are responsible for killing members of the microbiome in the gastrointestinal tract. These systems offer a competitive advantage to bacterial pathogens since killing competitors increases the availability of space and nutrients to support their own growth and proliferation. The ability to antagonize the gastrointestinal microbiome appears to be an important virulence factor for some pathogens, but this is far from being understood. At the molecular level, very little is known about the details of the interactions between bacterial pathogens and the microbiome. The focus of my research program is expanding the fundamental knowledge of the interactions that occur between bacterial pathogens and the microbiome of food-producing animals. A more thorough understanding of pathogen/microbiome interactions will contribute to improving food safety in several ways. Elucidating the mechanisms that bacterial pathogens use to antagonize the microbiome and understanding the role of these mechanisms in virulence will contribute to more accurate risk assessments. The composition of the gastrointestinal microbiome, in other words which bacterial species are present and in what abundance, can vary widely between individual hosts and over time. Some bacterial species in the microbiome appear to have genetic traits that allow them to resist killing by bacterial pathogens, and some appear to have the ability to launch a counter attack that is fatal for the pathogen. Thus, the microbiome composition may have a role in determining if the pathogen will be successful in establishing an infection. Characterizing and ultimately manipulating pathogen/microbiome interactions may offer novel pathogen exclusion strategies while reducing the requirement to use therapeutic agricultural antibiotics. By increasing the fundamental knowledge of the interactions that occur between bacterial pathogens and the microbiome, my research program will broaden the understanding of bacterial pathogen virulence traits, generate novel pathogen reduction strategies for use in agriculture, and contribute to decreasing the burden of foodborne illness.

大多数食源性致病菌起源于食用动物的胃肠道，并在生产、加工或分销过程中污染食品。如果农场细菌病原体的总体丰度减少，食源性疾病的负担就会减少。在食品生产动物的胃肠道中，细菌病原体与常驻的非致病细菌相互作用，以下称为微生物组。在健康的动物中，胃肠道微生物群由多样化和动态的细菌群组成。在这种环境下，对资源的竞争是激烈的。在过去的一年里，几种肠道细菌被证明含有一系列系统，这些系统负责杀死胃肠道中的微生物群成员。这些系统为细菌病原体提供了竞争优势，因为杀死竞争对手会增加空间和营养物质的可用性，以支持它们自己的生长和繁殖。对抗胃肠道微生物群的能力似乎是一些病原体的一个重要毒力因素，但这一点还远未被了解。在分子水平上，人们对细菌病原体与微生物群之间相互作用的细节知之甚少。我的研究计划的重点是扩大细菌病原体与食品类动物微生物群之间相互作用的基础知识。更透彻地了解病原体/微生物组的相互作用将有助于在几个方面改善食品安全。阐明细菌病原体用来对抗微生物组的机制，并了解这些机制在毒力中的作用，将有助于更准确的风险评估。胃肠道微生物群的组成，换言之，存在哪些细菌种类和丰度，可以在不同的宿主之间和随着时间的推移而变化很大。微生物群中的一些细菌物种似乎具有使它们能够抵抗细菌病原体杀死的遗传特征，有些细菌似乎有能力发动对病原体致命的反击。因此，微生物组的组成可能在确定病原体是否会成功确定感染方面起到作用。表征并最终操纵病原体/微生物组相互作用可能提供新的病原体排除策略，同时减少使用治疗性农业抗生素的要求。通过增加细菌病原体与微生物群之间相互作用的基础知识，我的研究计划将拓宽对细菌病原体毒力特征的理解，产生用于农业的新的病原体减少策略，并有助于减轻食源性疾病的负担。