Principal investigator: Dr. Christine Szymanski

Years the work was done: 2022-2023

Overall objective: Create a modified version of the bacterium Clostridium perfringens that displays specific surface sugars from Campylobacter jejuni. The aim is to trigger immune protection in chickens against both harmful bacteria.

Outcomes:

• Successfully introduced specific jejuni surface sugar biosynthesis genes into a strain of C. perfringens.
• Confirmed that these genes were active and being read by the modified bacteria.
• The engineered perfringens strain did not produce detectable levels of the desired C. jejuni sugars, likely due to incompatibilities in how sugars are displayed on the surface of C. jejuni and C. perfingens.
• Next steps will be to identify and introduce genes from bacteria more closely related to perfringens that could help with the proper attachment of the C. jejuni sugars, so the immune system can recognize them.

Application:

• Poultry Industry:
  • Potential development of an oral vaccine that protects chickens from both C. jejuni and C. perfringens (a cause of necrotic enteritis), reducing reliance on antibiotics in livestock and also foodborne illness by both pathogens in humans.
  • Potential to significantly reduce economic losses associated with necrotic enteritis in poultry (estimated $2–6 billion annually).
• Public Health:
  • Reduction in C. jejuni and C. perfringens infections in humans
• Antibiotic Stewardship:
  • Supports global efforts to reduce antibiotic use in livestock by providing alternative disease prevention strategies.

Funding:

This research was supported by Chicken Farmers of Canada and VaxAlta Inc.