Award details

BBSRC Studentship: Unravelling the mechanisms of GI-tract colonization by Escherichia coli

Reference	BBS/E/F/00042638
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Dr Sacha Lucchini
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	8,062
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/10/2011
End date	30/09/2015
Duration	47 months

Abstract

Immediately after birth, the human gut is colonised by micro-organisms acquired from the mother and/or the surrounding environment. The composition of the microbiota is initially highly variable and becomes more stable after the first year of life. Although the abundance of the different microbial groups is apparently stable at the higher taxonomical levels, there is a rapid turn-over at the strain level. A majority of strains are unable to colonise the gut at significant levels for more than a few days/weeks. The mechanisms that allow a given bacterium to colonise a host are poorly understood. Our hypothesis is that colonisation by new commensal bacteria is strongly influenced by the pre-existing microbiota as beneficial bacteria-bacteria interactions are required. To test the hypothesis, we have designed a new methodology to test the often neglected role of the commensal microbiota on gut colonisation by new bacterial strains. We will use conventional and gnotobiotic mice to determine the effect of pre-existing microflora on colonisation by Escherichia coli isolates. We have developed a method to monitor a large number of E. coli strains in parallel. This will allow infecting mice with a mixture of E. coli strains. Subsequent sequencing (Illumina) of the region containing the barcode will reveal the most competitive E. coli strains. The E. coli strains to be used have been deeply characterised at the phenotype and genotype content level. This information will facilitate the identification and characterisation of the genetic factors conferring a competitive advantage. This knowledge will help devising strategies for increasing colonisation by probiotic strains and interfere with colonisation by pathogens. Moreover, the strategy used for this project can be applied to analyse the effect of various parameters on E. coli (or other bacterial species) colonisation of the GI-tract such as antibiotic treatment, diet, host health, host genotype or age.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Diet and Health, 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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