Analysis of Salmonella Gene Expression during the Early Stages of Growth

Salmonella are important foodborne pathogens, being responsible for a serious and sometimes fatal disease. Predictive microbiology is a crucial tool for controlling growth of foodborne pathogens. A weakness in current predictive models is prediction of the early phase of growth (i.e. lag phase). <P>
At IFR, there is currently a large research programme led by Prof. Mike Peck and Dr. József Baranyi aimed at improved understanding and improved prediction of the lag phase of growth (see http://www.ifr.ac.uk/bacanova/ and http://www.ifr.ac.uk/safety/BehaviourPred.html). <P>
The purpose of this CASE studentship (with CCFRA) is to contribute to this research programme by extending understanding of the effect of salt on the lag phase of growth of Salmonella Typhimurium. This will be achieved by the use of microarray technology and gfp-reporter genes, and carried out under the supervision of Dr. Jay Hinton. <P>
This project will build on the expertise on Salmonella functional genomics at IFR (http://www.ifr.bbsrc.ac.uk/Safety/molmicro/research_microar rays.html). The student will study gene expression using DNA microarrays as bacterial cells are moved from stationary phase to lag phase under non-stressed and stressed conditions. The variability of lag time will also be assessed with the Bioscreen apparatus. Mathematical modelling approaches will be used to aid data analysis.