Metals and Campylobacter jejuni virulence: insights to control the most common bacterial cause of food-borne infection

The project will implement a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the metal handling systems in the food-borne pathogen Campylobacter and the contribution of these systems to overcoming metal intoxication encountered within the food chain and during host colonisation and infection. Campylobacter is the leading bacterial cause of human acute gastroenteritis and a target for new antimicrobials and control strategies in the agri-food industry. The project therefore has relevance to the UKRI-BBSRC theme 'advancing the frontiers of bioscience discovery-understanding the rules of life', and tackling the strategic challenge 'bioscience for sustainable agriculture and food', focussing on the major global challenge 'food security' and key objective 'to improve food safety through exploiting fundamental knowledge in microbiology to minimise pathogens in the food system'. The student will gain training and experience in techniques interfacing microbiology, infection biology, biochemistry and chemistry, providing a competitive advantage for future professional job applications both to academia and industry.