Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The presence of pathogens in the food supply remains a major concern to consumers. Recent major foodborne disease outbreaks in Canada involving products of animal origin have prompted government agencies and all sectors of the food industry to focus on effective strategies to control the presence of pathogens at all points along the food chain. The present project involves an innovative strategy using natural bioactive molecules produced by probiotic bacteria to mitigate the impact of animal and human pathogens. Bioactive molecules produced by Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5, and other probiotic bacteria, reduces the virulence of pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium by switching off genes involved in adherence to epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract. The commercialization of such a product will help producers to improve the health of animals such as piglets and chickens. Application of the probiotic bioactive will also help to reduce carriage and fecal shedding of potential foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) by preventing them from colonizing their animal hosts. This proposal seeks i) to evaluate the efficacy of the bioactives in animals, ii) to determine their effect on a number of other foodborne bacterial and viral pathogens, iii) to elucidate the mechanism whereby they exert their effect and iv) explore methods for their large scale production. The application of the bioactives in animal production could help to reduce the presence of foodborne pathogens in food as well as limit the use of antibiotics for the treatment of animal diseases.