Improving the Efficiency of Utilisation of Vegetable Proteins in Diets for Dogs. Australians spend approximately $1 billion per annum on feeding dogs. Uncle Bens of Australia has a significant share of this market. Development of dog foods based on vegetable proteins offers new market opportunities domestically, and overseas. Numerous vegetable proteins are available, however anti-nutritional factors that reduce digestibility and deteriorate faecal quality might limit their use. To optimise thei ....Improving the Efficiency of Utilisation of Vegetable Proteins in Diets for Dogs. Australians spend approximately $1 billion per annum on feeding dogs. Uncle Bens of Australia has a significant share of this market. Development of dog foods based on vegetable proteins offers new market opportunities domestically, and overseas. Numerous vegetable proteins are available, however anti-nutritional factors that reduce digestibility and deteriorate faecal quality might limit their use. To optimise their dietary inclusion, physiological effects in the canine gut must be understood to avoid any negative effects. These may be overcome by enzymes and (or) processing, and would allow cost effective products to be formulated that deliver optimum health and nutrition to consumers.
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Harnessing innate immunity to mitigate bovine respiratory disease. Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) is the most significant health problem faced by the beef industry worldwide, causing economic losses of up to $40 million annually in Australia alone. This Project aims to assess an immunostimulant for its ability to induce resistance to infection with bovine respiratory viruses associated with BRD. The Project is expected to generate fundamental new knowledge in veterinary virology. Expected outc ....Harnessing innate immunity to mitigate bovine respiratory disease. Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) is the most significant health problem faced by the beef industry worldwide, causing economic losses of up to $40 million annually in Australia alone. This Project aims to assess an immunostimulant for its ability to induce resistance to infection with bovine respiratory viruses associated with BRD. The Project is expected to generate fundamental new knowledge in veterinary virology. Expected outcomes include scholarly publications. The Project will provide significant benefits, such as advances to fundamental knowledge, training of higher research degree students and proof-of-concept data to promote collaborations with commercial partners to develop novel treatment strategies to limit BRD.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101832
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$425,941.00
Summary
Mechanisms of immune protection for infectious laryngotracheitis virus. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms of immune protection against infectious laryngotracheitis virus. This will be achieved by investigating the role of local and systemic immunity and the immune cells associated with long-term protection against disease. The mechanisms of protection against this virus remain unknown which impairs the development of efficacious vaccines. Expected outcomes of this project are a mor ....Mechanisms of immune protection for infectious laryngotracheitis virus. This project aims to investigate the mechanisms of immune protection against infectious laryngotracheitis virus. This will be achieved by investigating the role of local and systemic immunity and the immune cells associated with long-term protection against disease. The mechanisms of protection against this virus remain unknown which impairs the development of efficacious vaccines. Expected outcomes of this project are a more rational approach to vaccination resulting in the generation of more effective and safer vaccination strategies that should benefit our important poultry industry. Additionally, the new methodologies and knowledge on mucosal immune markers could be utilised for the study of other pathogens.Read moreRead less
Development of an attenuated vaccine to control the emerging bovine respiratory pathogen Mycoplasma bovis. The project will develop an attenuated vaccine to control the emerging bovine respiratory pathogen Mycoplasma bovis. This pathogen is a major contributor to bovine pneumonia in the feedlot industry and improved control will reduce reliance on antibiotics in cattle production.
Understanding the molecular basis of virulence in Brachyspira hyodysenteriae to improve vaccine design. Swine dysentery is a colonic infection of pigs caused by Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. The disease is widespread in Australia and causes great economic loss. An effective vaccine is not available. This study aims to identify factors associated with the bacterium's virulence, using comparative genomic and proteomic information. Virulence factors then will be targeted and tested as recombinant vac ....Understanding the molecular basis of virulence in Brachyspira hyodysenteriae to improve vaccine design. Swine dysentery is a colonic infection of pigs caused by Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. The disease is widespread in Australia and causes great economic loss. An effective vaccine is not available. This study aims to identify factors associated with the bacterium's virulence, using comparative genomic and proteomic information. Virulence factors then will be targeted and tested as recombinant vaccine candidates. This project will result in the development of an improved vaccine to control swine dysentery in rural Australia. Control of swine dysentery through vaccination will reduce antibiotic use on infected farms and improve the productivity and competitiveness of the Australian pig industry.Read moreRead less
Genomic sequencing and comparative genomic analysis for animal bacterial vaccine discovery. The aim of this project is to develop vaccines for the control of swine dysentery (pigs) and intestinal spirochaetosis (pigs and chickens). These infections cause important production-limiting diseases for which no effective vaccines are available. We will use whole genomic sequencing of the two causal species of intestinal spirochaetal bacteria, with a bioinformatics-based analysis of the data to identif ....Genomic sequencing and comparative genomic analysis for animal bacterial vaccine discovery. The aim of this project is to develop vaccines for the control of swine dysentery (pigs) and intestinal spirochaetosis (pigs and chickens). These infections cause important production-limiting diseases for which no effective vaccines are available. We will use whole genomic sequencing of the two causal species of intestinal spirochaetal bacteria, with a bioinformatics-based analysis of the data to identify potential cell surface structures that will be tested as the basis of new recombinant vaccines. Outcomes will include the development of new commercial products, increased institutional capacity in veterinary vaccine discovery, and ultimately improved animal health and production in rural Australia.Read moreRead less
Novel vaccines and serotyping scheme for Haemophilus parasuis. Glasser's disease, caused by the bacterium Haemophilus parasuis, is a significant problem in Australian and overseas pig industries. Current approaches to the management of Glassers disease utilise antibacterials and also vaccines. However, antibacterials are of limited effectiveness in juvenile pigs (weaners) that are difficult to medicate other than by injection, and current vaccines are only protective against the serotypes incl ....Novel vaccines and serotyping scheme for Haemophilus parasuis. Glasser's disease, caused by the bacterium Haemophilus parasuis, is a significant problem in Australian and overseas pig industries. Current approaches to the management of Glassers disease utilise antibacterials and also vaccines. However, antibacterials are of limited effectiveness in juvenile pigs (weaners) that are difficult to medicate other than by injection, and current vaccines are only protective against the serotypes included in the vaccine. We propose to examine the immune response to natural infection and identify potential vaccine candidates which will then be tested in vaccine trials. The APAI will focus on developing a DNA-based typing scheme for H. parasuis.Read moreRead less
Development of a live vaccine for gut health in poultry. Development of a live vaccine for gut health in poultry. The project aims to develop a live vaccine against necrotic enteritis, a disease of poultry estimated to cost the global poultry industry $5-6 billion USD/annum. It builds on work that has demonstrated the efficacy of an experimental vaccine. The proven antigen, NetB, will be expressed in live delivery vehicles, including the apicomplexan parasite Eimeria and several bacteria strains ....Development of a live vaccine for gut health in poultry. Development of a live vaccine for gut health in poultry. The project aims to develop a live vaccine against necrotic enteritis, a disease of poultry estimated to cost the global poultry industry $5-6 billion USD/annum. It builds on work that has demonstrated the efficacy of an experimental vaccine. The proven antigen, NetB, will be expressed in live delivery vehicles, including the apicomplexan parasite Eimeria and several bacteria strains particularly suited to use in chickens. Comparative analysis of the different vaccine vehicles will allow evaluation of the relative advantages and disadvantage of the different vehicles for delivery of heterologous vaccine antigens, thus informing the choice of appropriate vectors for this and other vaccine applications.Read moreRead less
How to make antibiotics in pig feed redundant, naturally. Antimicrobial resistance has become a major issue in human and veterinary medicine being partially caused by the use of in-feed antimicrobials in farm animals. This project aims to completely eliminate antimicrobials from piglet feeds. The key differential approach is based on helping the physiology of the animal rather than testing interventions against bacteria. The project will consist of developing a novel nutritional strategy of natu ....How to make antibiotics in pig feed redundant, naturally. Antimicrobial resistance has become a major issue in human and veterinary medicine being partially caused by the use of in-feed antimicrobials in farm animals. This project aims to completely eliminate antimicrobials from piglet feeds. The key differential approach is based on helping the physiology of the animal rather than testing interventions against bacteria. The project will consist of developing a novel nutritional strategy of naturally (through maternal conditioning) boosting the natural appetite and the capacity to digest in piglets early in life. The anticipated outcome is that the new peri-natal program will result in minimal bacterial proliferation and diarrhoea thus, negating the need for in-feed antimicrobials in piglets. Read moreRead less
Environmental contamination and pig disease: an Australian microbe evolves. The Australian pig industry produces pork commodities from over 4.75 million pigs per year. Infectious diseases in industrial-scale piggeries can have a devastating effect on pork production, particularly on feed conversion efficiency and growth rates, and can pose downstream environmental contamination and food safety risks. This project aims to assess a current infectious disease problem in pigs by studying a microbe t ....Environmental contamination and pig disease: an Australian microbe evolves. The Australian pig industry produces pork commodities from over 4.75 million pigs per year. Infectious diseases in industrial-scale piggeries can have a devastating effect on pork production, particularly on feed conversion efficiency and growth rates, and can pose downstream environmental contamination and food safety risks. This project aims to assess a current infectious disease problem in pigs by studying a microbe that appears to have uniquely evolved in Australia. These results could inform the rational design of monitoring, prevention and treatment strategies to minimise infection outbreaks in Australian pigs and may result in production benefits to the pork industry, reduced environmental microbial contamination and safer food.Read moreRead less