Microbial ecology and metagenomics of a foodborne pathogen

Campylobacter is the commonest bacterial cause of diarrhoeal disease in the UK, where is it most often associated with the consumption of poultry, and amongst the top five causes of diarrhoeal disease in low and middle-income countries, where transmission routes are unclear. The detection of Campylobacter is challenging as it is difficult to grow in the laboratory, suggesting an important role of the microbial communities in which Campylobacter thrives - in laboratory conditions it is grown as a pure culture. Metagenome, culture independent, sequencing of samples where Campylobacter is found, offers an approach which can be used to examine the interaction between Campylobacter and the total microbial diversity of a sample.

This multidisciplinary project will examine the microbial communities associated with both the presence and absence of Campylobacter on chicken. This may suggest novel mechanisms to reduce the survival of Campylobacter in the food chain. This project will include both wet lab and dry lab components; culturing for the diversity of Campylobacter, exploring competitive exclusion of Campylobacter, and whole genome and metagenome sequencing and analysis.