Description:

Title: Physiological Mechanisms Contributing to Fitness of the Foodborne Pathogen Campylobacter jejuni During Chicken Colonization

Speaker: Victor DiRita, PhD, Michigan State University

Host: Hank Seifert, PhD

Topic:

Campylobacter jejuni is the major source of bacterial food poisoning in the United States. Colonizing chickens as a commensal, it enters the food supply through food processing and preparation, and in humans causes severe gastroenteritis and diarrhea. Its ability to thrive in chickens is an interesting problem to explore just for the biological aspects, and is also a target for potential intervention to reduce human exposure. Our research tackles the biological question by identifying and studying mechanisms used to colonize, and recent work focuses on metabolic traits that enable growth in the chicken. We are also exploring ways to reduce colonization loads in chickens by developing anti-Campylobacter therapeutics emerging out of high-throughput screens.