Genetic manipulation of bacteriophage tail fibers to expand host range recognition for use in food/water safety

This project has two major goals; one being an educational training goal and the other being a research experiment goal. The first goal is to support Graduate students in their pursuits of related disciplines, with a specific focus on supporting the development of leaders within Agricultural fields as they seek to address emerging challenges. The second long-term goal of this research proposal is to overcome a major biological limitation (host range specificity) of bacteriophages so that the true potential of current and future phage-based technologies can be actualized. More specifically, we believe that the ensuing actualization of these technologies as more practical/effective bacterial separation, concentration, and detection tools will ultimately lead to improved food safety by reducing the burden/occurrence of foodborne illnesses. Further, a reduction in foodborne illnesses could annually save the United States billions of dollars by significantly reducing much of the financial burden that results from related medical costs. With many examples of these technologies having already been approved by U.S. regulatory agencies, we believe that this work can greatly serve both our national and global communities.