Location: Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit
Project Number: 6040-32000-085-005-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 19, 2025
End Date: Aug 18, 2028
Objective:
1. Elucidate metabolic signature patterns supporting pathogen proliferation in different poultry food matrices and develop novel non-destructive strategies to detect Salmonella in poultry food matrices.
2. Develop novel antimicrobial strategies aimed at pathogen mitigation in poultry food matrices.
Approach:
1. The success of pathogen proliferation in food depends on the capacity to rapidly adapt to different stresses presented by food. However, the molecular mechanism supporting pathogen proliferation, especially at the metabolic level, is hitherto uncharacterized. In this project, the Cooperator will use RNA-seq-based transcriptomic approaches to deeply characterize the rapid adaptation of Salmonella and Campylobacter to poultry food matrices. The Cooperator will also characterize the specific metabolic pathways used by these pathogens to proliferate in the different poultry food matrices, such as chicken meat and egg yolk. The Cooperator will then use downstream molecular approaches such as targeted gene deletions, complementations, and promoter fusion assays to validate the RNA-seq data.
Pathogen risks are associated with various factors, including temperature, stresses, and indigenous microflora. Predictive analytics and mathematical models will be developed using machine learning (ML) to predict pathogen risks (e.g., S. Enteritidis/S.Typhmurium) in poultry meat incorporating factors such as temperature, meat parts (e.g, with/without skin), stresses (e.g., antimicrobial resistance/cold stresses), and indigenous microflora. Since pathogen risks are influenced by key microbial species, core microbiomes will be identified using 16s rRNA sequencing. Detection and differentiation of Salmonella serovars will be accomplished by a rapid and smart ML-enabled paper sensor approach for real-time, non-destructive detection and differentiation of Salmonella serovars in poultry meat, even in the presence of indigenous microflora.
2. Pilot studies will be carried out on naturally colonized or artificially inoculated broilers and birds that will be processed in a processing plant using individual or combinations of different antibacterial strategies. Promising strategies will then be tested in commercial processing facilities. Pathogen mitigation will be characterized using both conventional plating and molecular approaches. This work will provide poultry processors with new tools they can use in the near term to reduce the levels of Salmonella and Campylobacter entering the food supply.
Novel technologies such as cold plasma and e-beam will be validated to determine their efficacy in eliminating Salmonella and Campylobacter on raw chicken products and surfaces. Cooperator will leverage existing cold plasma equipment, as well as an e-beam technology. These technologies will activate simple chemicals such as water and hydrogen peroxide to study their antimicrobial effects. Plasma and e-beam death time (PDT and eDT), D-value, and f-value of the process will be calculated. Further experiments will be conducted to determine the growth of the pathogens on parts treated with novel interventions during storage and transportation. Additionally, Cooperator will examine the possibility of commercializing the technologies. Data from these studies will help to inform the necessary interventions throughout the poultry production and processing system.