Pathogenesis of infections with Yersinia enterocolitica

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/114200

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

Yersinia enterocolitica is a significant cause of food-poisoning, gastroenteritis and abdominal pain which may be mistaken for acute appendicitis. Y. enterocolitica is a heterogenous bacterial species only some strains of which are able to cause disease. Many of the disease-causing strains have readily identifiable virulence determinants which facilitate their detection in clinical microbiological laboratories. By contrast, other types, in particular the biotype 1A strains, lack these determinants, although many of them are significantly associated with disease. During the past few years, we have compared biotype 1A strains of Y. enterocolitica obtained from patients with those from non-clinical sources in a number of assays for virulence-associated properties. These studies have shown that clinical isolates differ from non-clinical ones in terms of their ability to (1) invade epithelial cells in vitro and intestinal absorptive cells in vivo, (2) escape from epithelial cells and macrophages they have invaded, (3) resist killing by macrophages, and (4) colonise the intestinal tracts of mice. The aim of the study is to identify the bacterial determinants responsible for these differences between clinical and non-clinical strains of Y. enterocolitica biotype 1A. This will be achieved by using genetic techniques to modify virulent strains of biotype 1A at random and then identify derivatives of these bacteria with altered virulence properties. We shall also use genetic techniques to identify genes that are specifically activated when the bacteria come into contact with animal cells and tissues. The results of this research will provide new insights into the virulence mechanisms of Y. enterocolitica and related bacteria, and will be used to develop diagnostic tests which will allow pathogenic strains to be distinguished from harmless ones.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2002

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $339,634.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Allergy

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Yersinia enterocolitica | diagnostic microbiology | diarrhoea | gastroenteritis | in vivo expression technology (IVET) | pathogenesis | virulence determinants

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