Project Details
Projekt
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) of pathogen and host - potential biomarkers of bacterial infections
Subject Area
Veterinary Medical Science
Term
from 2012 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 219411486
Within this project that started in May 2012 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified as biomarkers of bacterial infection. These markers enabled differentiation of genetically different strains of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and characterization of different growth rates or the density of bacterial growth, respectively. In addition, these markers could be used to recognize infection and host responses in living animals. The future experiments will again focus on MAP, and the main goal will be to evaluate suitable VOC marker sets in livestock. For that purpose, animals (goats and cattle) with naturally acquired MAP infections will be studied. Determination of VOC profiles from breath and feces of these animals shall prove whether results from the experimental infection model (MAP infected goats) can be transferred to other species (esp. cattle) and to MAP-infections present in the field. In detail, the following issues will be addressed.- In goat flocks and dairy herds with naturally occurring MAP-infections, VOC profiles will be determined from breath and feces of individual animals. VOC results will be compared with results from bacterial cultures grown from feces of these animals. In this way, co-infections will be excluded or taken into account (if present).- As a complementary approach, native tissues and feces obtained from those goats and cows (either MAP-infected or non-infected) will be analyzed in order to assess matrix effects onto VOC profiles in biological samples.- Continuous sampling by means of real time mass spectrometry in the flocks or herds, respectively, will provide substantial information about robustness of the VOC markers and their circadian and/or day-to-day variability under field conditions. - In addition, VOC analysis of ambient air in animal housings will be performed in order to evaluate the option of using volatile signatures present in stable air as a simplified diagnostic approach for MAP detection on the herd level. In a perspective view, this project will generate sound scientific evidence as a basis for the development of simple and fast systems for non-invasive detection of MAP infections in livestock as well as for the in vitro detection of MAP growth in samples obtained from the field.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
Co-Investigators
Dr. Heike Uta Köhler; Professor Dr. Volkmar Liebscher; Dr. Wolfram Miekisch; Dr. Mario Ziller
