Molecular Biology of Human Pathogens Associated with Food

Objective 1: Comparative genomic analyses of Campylobacter, Arcobacter, E. coli and S. enterica to identify novel genetic elements or polymorphisms that are associated with virulence, niche specialization or other adaptive traits. Objective 2: Develop sequence-based typing methods to detect and analyze multiple critical food-borne pathogens from multiple sources. Objective 3: Generate gene expression profiles for E. coli, S. enterica, and Campylobacter from varying sources and in response to various environmental stresses to identify factors contributing to virulence and survival in diverse habitats. Objective 4: Develop rapid, simple and inexpensive multiplex assays for pathogen detection and virulence characterization using novel technology for use in surveillance and outbreak epidemiology. Objective 5: Establish proteomic approaches for detecting and typing foodborne pathogens and toxins, and measure pathogen response to environmental stresses by mass spectrometry methods. Objective 6: Investigate mechanisms of bacterial toxicity and evaluate novel methods for inactivating Shiga toxins by developing cell-based assays for assessing toxicity and comparing the relative toxicity of Shiga toxin 1 and 2 variants.