Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

Millions of Canadians suffer from bacterial illnesses caused by contaminated foods. In nature, these bacteria can be killed by a class of viruses (bacteriophages) that only infect their host bacteria. This proposal takes advantage of the bacteriophage proteins that are responsible for specific host recognition, known as tailspike proteins (TSPs), to devise a new method for food decontamination and developing value-added livestock feed. We have previously shown that feeding chickens with bacteriophage TSPs that specifically recognize Salmonella causes reduction of the numbers of Salmonella in the chicken intestinal tract. This is accomplished through the ability of the TSPs to clump the disease-causing bacteria together and prevent them from effectively colonizing the animal intestine. Our first objective, together with Dow AgroSciences Canada Inc., is to develop a method to express active bacteriophage TSPs in high amounts in plants that can then be fed directly to livestock to reduce foodborne pathogens at source. We have already expressed the Salmonella-targeting TSP in one plant model, and preliminary data suggests that the plant extract successfullyclumps Salmonella together. Our second objective, together with Amgen Inc., is to develop a method for thedetection and identification of new bacteriophage TSPs that have not been studied before. We plan to accomplish this by taking advantage of the fact that TSPs naturally assemble together, a property can be detected by mass spectrometry (MS). MS can provide the mass of the TSP protein complex, as well as information about the TSP protein sequence which can subsequently be used to obtain the TSP gene from the bacteriophage genome for use in plant expression. These studies enable us to develop a general method for bacteriophage TSP identification and plant expression which provides a promising new technique for decontaminating any food animal. Extending the applications of MS will also provide valuable new tools for the biochemistry research community. This project will train two MSc students, and allow them to developnovel skills in analytical chemistry and plant biotechnology.