Colibacillosis is one of the most common and important diseases in poultry production often linked to extra-intestinal colonization of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC). APEC infection can impact on the overall performance of birds leading to decreased body weight, carcass yield, meat quality, and increased mortality. Colibacillosis in poultry husbandry is also a major health concern due to the growing resistance of APEC strains to frontline antibiotics, thus novel control strategies are greatly needed.
Probiotics and phages each have varied therapeutic efficacies, and their activity has previously been shown to be improved by combining both strategies against Salmonella colonization in broiler chickens. The rationale is based on the targeted approach of the phage towards reducing the pathogenic bacteria in vivo and the subsequent re-establishment of the gut normal bacterial dynamics by the probiotic. Currently, very little is known about the efficacy of this strategy in controlling APEC colonization in chickens.
To address this knowledge gap and inform future development of this strategy in poultry farming, the candidate is expected to isolate and characterize probiotic bacteria from avian sources
2. isolate and characterize additional APEC bacteria and broad host range, thermally stable lytic phages that can target and effectively lyse the APEC strains
3. optimize phage cocktails to enhance lysis activity
4. ascertain the combined therapeutic effects of the phages and probiotics on the colonisation of a test APEC strain in the Galleria mellonella larva infection model and a chicken pilot study.
The project will be based across both SRUC’s Inverness and Edinburgh campuses. This 4-year PhD project is part of a competition funded by EastBio BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership.
Apply here https://biology.ed.ac.uk/eastbio/how-to-apply
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