Grant: CAG/CCFC/CIHR Summer Studentship for Research in Gastroenterology

Infectious diseases are a leading cause of death worldwide, and pathogen-associated intestinal infections cause significant disease in both the developing and the developed world. Host genetics play an important role in determining the ultimate outcome of many infections. Performing genetic analyses in mouse models of infection has many advantages over genetic analyses in humans, and a number of important breakthroughs in our understanding of the human response to infection have come through mouse genetic studies. Here, we propose to investigate the basis for disease susceptibility in a mouse model of pathogenic Escherichia coli infection. These pathogenic bacteria colonize the intestinal tract, and cause diarrhea with potentially fatal complications. Our preliminary studies indicate differences between mouse strains that control the replication and survival of bacteria during infection. Some mice are extremely permissive to bacterial replication, while others are more resistant. We aim to characterize the inheritance of this trait as a first step towards understanding how susceptibility to infection is inherited genetically. These studies promise to help us understand the variability of host response to infection.