Award details

Analysis and control of egg contamination by Salmonella and other pathogens after moving laying hens to enriched cages and alternative housing systems

Reference	BBS/E/F/00042300
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Sacha Lucchini
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Vittoria Danino-Appleton, Professor Jay Hinton
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	200,890
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/10/2006
End date	31/03/2010
Duration	42 months

Abstract

Salmonella contamination of eggs is one of the main causes of food poisoning. In order to combat this source of human infection egg producers must ensure their product is free from Salmonella. Animal husbandry may play a significant role in egg contamination and as battery systems of farming will be phased out by 2012 it is important that the new housing methods introduced are assessed for their influence on egg contamination. The SafeHouse project will collect and analyze data to determine the effect of housing system on egg contamination by zoonotic agents in the field, in order to predict the potential risk to the consumer of the move to more welfare-friendly laying hen housing systems. In addition fundamental research will be done to find out how Salmonella is able to infect eggs. IFR is leading a subprogramme of the project, the main aims of which are to understand how Salmonella infects eggs and the mechanisms it uses to become resistant to antibiotics. For Salmonella to infect eggs it must be able to colonise and survive in the oviduct of the chicken where the eggs are produced. By infecting oviduct loops and cells with large numbers of Salmonella we will identify which genes are important for the survival of Salmonella during its life in the oviduct. Once we've identified the genes involved in Salmonella survival and infection we will mutate them to try and find a mechanism for Salmonella contamination of eggs. We will also investigate the link between allantoin utilisation and the development of antibiotic resistance by Salmonella. Work done in Ivan Rychlik's laboratory has shown that strains of Salmonella that carry the main site of antibiotic resistance genes (SG1) are unlikely to be able to use allantoin as a carbon source. Using a combination of RT-PCR, DNA microarrays and reporter gene fusions we will find out the significance of the link between allantoin utilisation and antibiotic resistance.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	Animal Health, Microbial Food Safety, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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