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Detection and physiology of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in flour and flour products
Project
Project code: BfR-BIOS-08-1322-712
Contract period: 01.01.2019
- 31.12.2019
Purpose of research: Applied research
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) can cause severe human disease such as hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). They naturally reside in the gastrointestinal tract of healthy ruminants (e.g. bovine and sheep) and can be shed with their feces in the environment and the food chain. Animal derived foods, as well as, fresh produce (e.g. lettuce and sprouts) have been commonly implicated in STEC infections. Recently, STEC outbreaks associated with flour have been reported in the USA and Canada. Since then and particularly due to reports by Mäde et al. (2017) that describe an STEC prevalence of nearly 40 % in flour samples (primarily in Saxony Anhalt), scientific and media interest in flour as a transmission vehicle for STEC infections increases across Germany and Europe. However, data regarding the survival and distribution of STEC in flour, as well as, their detection and isolation are rare. Indeed, the study by Mäde et al. was able to isolate STEC of only about half of the STEC positive flour samples. This indicates inadequately adapted cultural methods and/or physiological states of the bacteria under which they are not or only insufficiently cultivated. Furthermore, information regarding the adaptation of certain STEC strains to flour as a habitat are largely lacking. Also the source and entry of STEC contamination in flour have not been identified thus far. Hence, this project plans to sequence STEC isolates derived from flour and compare the obtained genome data to sequencing data of other STEC isolates to identify potential contamination routes. The analysis of virulence-, fitness- and resistance-associated genes might further give insights on the adaptation of STEC to flour. A second research objective is to investigate the survival of prevalent STEC serogroups in flour. To this end different spiking methods, as well as, models will be elaborated and characterized. Finally, cultural and molecular methods for the detection and isolation of STEC in flour will be examined and tested regarding specificity, sensitivity and feasibility.
Section overview
Subjects
- Biotechnology
- Toxicology
