An anaerobic chamber to study the behaviour of microbes.

用于研究微生物行为的厌氧室。

• 批准号: RTI-2020-00835
• 负责人: CampbellValois, FrançoisXavier
• 金额: $ 2.9万
• 依托单位: University of Ottawa
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 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=687492
• 关键词: anaerobic; chamber; study; behaviour; microbes.

Infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, diarrhea and opportunistic infections, are among the top-ten causes of death in the world. Microbes are also causing numerous crops and livestock diseases, which are responsible for severe economic losses and threaten the food intake of millions of people. The rise in antibiotic resistance is also a major threat that warrants increasing resources to study bacteria. Genetically encoded reporters relying on the expression of fluorescent proteins are instrumental to understand the physiology of microbes. Reporter development can lead down the road to important applications such as the discovery of novel anti-infective drugs and the understanding of fundamental biological processes such as how do bacteria colonize crop plants, grow on food or infect humans. Nonetheless, many microbes live in anaerobic conditions in which classical fluorescent proteins are inactive. We must therefore find alternatives to these conventional approaches. The research groups implicated in this project are studying bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Shigella flexneri implicated in opportunistic lung infections and diarrheal diseases, respectively. Our goal is to study their behavior in anaerobic conditions encountered during their lifecycle. To do this, we are requesting the acquisition of an anaerobic chamber, in order to perform experiments in anoxic conditions. We will use this infrastructure to test genetic reporters based on novel fluorescent proteins that do not require oxygen to emit light. These novel genetic reporters and other methods will be used to study the formation of biofilms by P. aeruginosa and the functioning of the Type 3 Secretion System of S. flexneri. Both research groups implicated on this project are affiliated to the University of Ottawa and possess world renown expertise in microbiology. The infrastructure requested will strongly synergize with a microscope dedicated to live imaging of microbes. Approximately 15 highly qualified personnel will be trained on this infrastructure every year. Unfettered access to this infrastructure will allow these graduate students to complete their training without delay. Discoveries in the last ten years have demonstrated the high abundance of strict or facultative anaerobic bacteria in the microbiota of plants, animals or in the environment. These realizations have spurred many academic or private efforts to study anaerobic bacteria. The unique expertise acquired by individuals trained on this infrastructure will make them highly sought after assets on the job market. Given the sheer number of microbes exposed to anaerobic conditions in their environment, we expect that the methods and reporters developed here will be extremely useful to study other microbes that threaten public health and the financial viability of many sectors of the Canadian economy in ways that were previously impossible.

传染病，如肺结核、腹泻和机会性感染，是世界十大死因之一。微生物还造成许多农作物和牲畜疾病，造成严重的经济损失，并威胁到数百万人的食物摄入。抗生素耐药性的增加也是一个主要威胁，需要增加研究细菌的资源。依赖于荧光蛋白表达的遗传编码报告基因有助于理解微生物的生理学。报告基因的开发可以引导重要的应用，例如发现新型抗感染药物和了解基本的生物过程，例如细菌如何在作物上定植，在食物上生长或感染人类。尽管如此，许多微生物生活在厌氧条件下，其中经典的荧光蛋白是无活性的。因此，我们必须找到替代这些传统做法的办法。参与该项目的研究小组正在研究铜绿假单胞菌和福氏志贺菌分别与机会性肺部感染和呼吸道疾病有关。我们的目标是研究它们在生命周期中遇到的厌氧条件下的行为。为此，我们要求获得一个厌氧室，以便在缺氧条件下进行实验。我们将利用这种基础设施来测试基于新型荧光蛋白的基因报告员，这种荧光蛋白不需要氧气就能发光。这些新的基因报告基因和其他方法将用于研究铜绿假单胞菌生物膜的形成和S.弗莱克斯内里。参与这一项目的两个研究小组都隶属于渥太华大学，拥有世界知名的微生物学专门知识。所要求的基础设施将与专用于微生物实时成像的显微镜产生强烈的协同作用。每年将有大约15名高素质人员接受关于这一基础设施的培训。不受限制地使用这一基础设施将使这些研究生能够毫不拖延地完成培训。在过去十年中的发现已经证明了在植物、动物或环境的微生物群中严格或兼性厌氧细菌的高丰度。这些认识促使许多学术或私人努力研究厌氧菌。在这一基础设施上接受培训的个人所获得的独特专业知识将使他们成为就业市场上备受追捧的资产。鉴于暴露在厌氧条件下的微生物数量庞大，我们预计，这里开发的方法和报告者将非常有用，可以研究其他威胁公共健康的微生物，以及加拿大经济许多部门的财务可行性，这在以前是不可能的。