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

噬菌体是专门感染细菌的病毒。跨越生物和非生物实体的边界，从理解基础生物学的角度来看，这些都是令人着迷的研究。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，对人类和兽医医学产生了重大影响。例如，噬菌体是细菌之间水平基因转移的主要载体，有助于编码毒素或抗菌素耐药性等毒力因子的基因的传播。相比之下，它们也可以利用噬菌体本身（噬菌体治疗）或其细胞壁裂解酶作为细菌感染的新治疗方法。面对日益增长的抗生素耐药性，替代治疗是急需的，噬菌体的开发是一个有吸引力的潜在选择。本项目将研究牛乳腺炎病原体噬菌体，目的是评估它们对水平基因转移的贡献，以及利用它们作为乳腺炎新疗法的潜力。乳腺炎，乳腺炎症，是奶牛最常见和经济上重要的疾病之一。牛乳腺炎导致产奶量和质量下降，在严重的情况下，受影响的动物被扑杀。因此，英国乳制品行业每年因牛乳腺炎的成本估计为2亿英镑，而全球成本预计为2000亿美元。此外，牛乳腺炎是使用大量抗菌素药物的原因，与此同时，人们担心抗菌素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。牛乳腺炎是由多种细菌引起的，其中大肠杆菌、ubercoccus、金黄色葡萄球菌和其他葡萄球菌是最常见的。该项目位于罗斯林研究所，受益于世界一流的设施，其中复活节布什校区是欧洲最大的动物科学研究中心。该项目在大学环境中提供实验室微生物学和生物信息学方面的各种培训经验。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、蛋白质表达和基因组分析。校园里有一个充满活力的研究生社区（约150名博士生），提供了丰富多样的学术和交流机会。

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.