Examples of common E. coli bacterial diseases include colibacillosis in chickens and swine caused by avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), respectively; Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) colonization of cattle with implications for the human food chain and urinary system; uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) and bloodstream infections in all hosts, often originating from the intestinal tract.
Lytic phages use their tail fibers to recognize specific receptors on the bacterial cell surface to initiate infection with the bacteria killed on release of new phage particles.
The aim of this research is to be able to select (via prediction from the E. coli WGS) phage combinations with the capacity to penetrate the required capsules and effectively eliminate specific multi-drug resistant E. coli from the animal gastrointestinal tract.
Specifically, the project will focus on the use of an extensive ‘one health’ collection of E. coli strains from Scotland (collected and sequenced under the UK Treasury Pathogen Surveillance in Agriculture, Food & Environment – PATH-SAFE initiative to: (1) understand the type and expression profiles of capsule in complex polymicrobial populations such as livestock microbiomes; (2) Screen and combine appropriate phages to overcome capsule and match receptors expressed in the gut microbiome environment.
This 4 year PhD project is part of a competition funded by EASTBIO BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP).
Check here to apply https://biology.ed.ac.uk/eastbio/how-to-apply
for more phage-related research opportunities, click here https://jobs.thephage.xyz/
