Identification and characterisation of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium factors playing a role in colonisation of the porcine gut
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Research partner: University of Edinburgh
Sponsor: BPEX
Duration: October 2007 – September 2010
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has an objective of reducing the number of food-borne infection cases due to S. Typhimurium. A key strategy is vaccination of source animals to limit initial colonisation and also restrict levels of the relevant pathogens in food animals (European Union).
Pigs can become asymptomatic carriers of S. Typhimurium, resulting in the bacteria being passed into the food chain via the meat and causing human infection. Subsequently new intervention strategies are called for to reduce the prevalence of S. Typhimurium in pig herds and in the human population.
A vaccine against S. Typhimurium in pigs could be one of these potential strategies. It is hoped that a novel S. Typhimurium vaccine can be produced for use in the pig industry where a vaccinated animal can be distinguished from an infected animal in the abattoir by a simple test.
The overall and long term objective of the project is to identify the roles of different Salmonella Typhimurium binding factors in colonisation of the pig intestine, and to modify the S. Typhimurium vaccine strain (VacT) so that vaccinated pigs can be differentiated from infected animals.
To achieve these goals initial work has focussed on the establishment and characterisation of pigs’ intestinal cells (Figure.1). This cell culture system will be used in infection studies with wild type and bacterial strains deficient in binding factors, to investigate the role of different binding factors in S. Typhimurium colonisation of the pig gut.
Future work will focus on functional analyses including cellular invasion mechanisms and immune responses, following S. Typhimurium interactions with porcine intestinal cells (both epithelial and M cells, which are different subsets of intestinal cells).
Page last updated 08 June 2010