Genotype-phenotype characterization and toxin study of archival and newly isolated Georgian Clostridium botulinum strains
Project Status: 3 Approved without Funding
Duration in months: 24 months
Objective
C. botulinum archival and newly isolated strains kept at Repository of NCDC will be studied by standard microbiological, molecular and protein methods using required BSL by the project personnel of the NCDC. During the last 15 years, 100 strains of C. botulinum have been isolated from clinical samples, soil and suspected food; and all strains will be considered subject to the study. To develop and apply new genetic and genomic platforms for detection and identification of unique DNA sequences in strains we will work closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
· US CDC will provide Real-Time PCR, MLST, and Sequencing protocols, and will assist in bioinformatics development by training Georgian scientists.
· This project will be carried out at the NCDC at the Richard G. Lugar Center with our US collaborators support.
The overall goal of this study is to characterize archival and newly isolated C. botulinum strains from the National Centers for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) Repository by phenotypic and genetic methods. We will try to identify unique genomic regions that may be associated with distinct phenotypic properties of these strains and to map these regions to their predicted phenotypes by correlation analysis. We plan to do characterization mass spectral analysis of neurotoxin endopeptidase products as well. Research will be focused to elucidate underlying forces that are driving the ecological and evolutionary process in shaping the genomic diversity and resulting environmental maintenance of C. botulinum. An availability of multiple C. botulinum genomic sequences will give us the ability to bioinformatically analyze the locations of the specific genes, the composition of their toxin gene clusters, and the genes flanking these regions to understand their variation.
The specific objectives of this proposal are: 1) Phenotypic characterization of archival and newly isolated strains of C. botulinum; 2) Genetic (Real-Time PCR, MLST, Sequencing) characterization of archival and newly isolated strains of C. botulinum; 3) Adapt proteomic methods to serotype Georgian strains of C. botulinum neurotoxin; 4) to identify genomic diversity of C. botulinum strains in Georgia and compare with US C. botulinum strains
Participating Institutions
COLLABORATOR
Ryan Arner Science Consulting LLC
COLLABORATOR
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
LEADING
National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC)
