Abstract
Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is a diverse group of extraintestinal pathogenic E.coli that affects both meat and egg-producing chicken, resulting in high morbidities and
mortalities with subsequent significant economic losses. Being residents of the intestinal tract
of chickens gives them the potential to spread throughout the poultry house environment
from the first day of production which in turn predisposes for wide range infections. APEC
shows great diversity among its population which limits the efficacy of control strategies via
vaccines. Concurrently with the alarming threat of the global antimicrobial resistance
challenge with APEC showing very high levels of multiple resistance, finding an alternative
way to control such serious pathogens is essential.
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) sequences with their
CRISPR associated (Cas) genes form a genetically encoded defence mechanism of bacteria and
archaea against mobile genetic elements and bacteriophages. Briefly, this strategy is
dependent on RNA-guided endonucleases that cut phage genomes and other mobile genetic
elements at very specific sites complementary to the non-coding RNA guides and
consequently render them harmless. Previous studies have proved the possibility of
reprogramming those RNA molecules to guide Cas endonucleases to specific sequences of
interest on chromosome or other DNA molecules and cut them precisely. This advantage
suggested the possibility of exploiting CRISPR for targeting certain sequences on the bacterial
chromosome either to engineer the bacterial genome as a gene editing tool or to cut the
chromosome and subsequently kill the bacteria as a sequence-specific antimicrobial which is
the main aim of this study.
| Date of Award | 1 Oct 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Supervisor | Jennifer Bailey (Supervisor) & Tristan A Cogan (Supervisor) |
Cite this
- Standard