Project Number: 6612-32000-007-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Feb 01, 2011
End Date: Jan 31, 2016

Objective:
1. Use the Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) SNP database to link specific genes and regulatory circuits to phenotypes associated with egg contamination, virulence, pathogenicity, host preference, or environmental persistence of subpopulations. 2. Determine whether recurring subsets or patterns of SE SNPs can be identified that are causally linked to outbreak potential of other Salmonella serotypes, and determine if SNPs can be used for risk profiling and cluster detection. 3. Apply information about genomic variation occurring across Salmonella enterica to improve serotyping schemes and vaccines that can be used to develop rapid and sensitive diagnostic and epidemiological testing methodologies for SE in poultry flocks and eggs.

Approach:
Sixteen genes have been identified that are disrupted by SNPS SNPs in strains that vary in virulence potential. These genes will be mutated in a parent strain with a characterized genome and will be assayed by phenotype microarray and hen infection studies for function in virulence pathways. New SNPs will be identified that differentiate prominent phage types that vary in geographical incidence using whole genome comparisons. SNPs that have been linked to virulence or geographical incidence will be analyzed across other Salmonella serotypes by primer-directed sequencing for the purpose of evaluating epidemiological trends associated with SNPs.