Stress Tolerance, Attachment Capacity, and Virulence of Salmonella Heidelberg Outbreak-related Food Isolates Compared to Non Outbreak-related Strains

The goal of this integrated project is to 1) determine factors that may contribute to Salmonella isolates' ability to survive processing measures and cause outbreaks and 2) develop educational materials to provide current and future food safety professionals with the knowledge to help prevent future outbreaks. This will be accomplished via the following objectives:Objective 1: Determine transcriptional basis of S. Heidelberg ORFIs' enhanced heat resistanceObjective 2: Compare attachment capability, sanitizer tolerance, and invasiveness of S. enterica ORFIs and non-outbreak related isolates.Objective 3: Develop and publish a course on mechanisms of bacterial survival and persistence