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Engineeringa phages to both detect and kill Salmonella
Secondary Supervisor(s): Professor Martha Clokie
University of Registration: University of Leicester
BBSRC Research Themes:
Project Outline
"Background
Salmonella is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria that poses a significant challenge to both public health and agriculture in the United Kingdom and globally. Salmonella is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the UK, often linked to contaminated food products. The rapid detection of Salmonella is important in food safety, health protection and regulatory compliance. Furthermore, the treatment of Salmonella in agriculture settings, where it may be asymptomatic can cut transmission to other animals, into the food chain and ultimately humans.
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, hold much promise as alternatives to traditional antibiotics. Bacteriophages can be used to both prevent the spread of Salmonella and treat Salmonella infections. Additionally, bacteriophages can be used as diagnostics to detect the presence of Salmonella.
Objectives:
1 . Optimise a recently developed genetic system that allows for the engineering of Salmonella bacteriophages
2. Engineer Salmonella phages to carry a reporter gene, which allows for the rapid detection of Salmonella cells within samples.
3. Engineer Salmonella phages to have properties required for effective therapeutic agents. Eg increasing host range to target multiple serovars of Salmonella
Methods
The project will utilise molecular biology; Golden gate cloning, homologous recombination, PCR for the creation of bacteriophage mutants.
Genomics: ONT sequencing for sequencing of bacteriophage mutants.
Bioinformatics: Large scale genomic analysis for identification of receptor binding proteins , which will be engineered to expand host range.
General Microbiology : cultivation of bacteria, phage propagation, phage purification
