Identification of environmental and genetic factors affecting the survival of Legionella pneumophila in water.

鉴定影响嗜肺军团菌在水中存活的环境和遗传因素。

• 批准号: 418289-2012
• 负责人: Faucher, Sébastien
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=551323
• 关键词: Identification; environmental; genetic; factors; affecting

The long-term goal of my research program is to understand the environmental and genetic factors underlying the survival of water-borne pathogens in the water environment and their transmission to the human host. Legionella pneumophila, a model water-borne pathogen for the study of virulence mechanisms and water-borne pathogens, will be used for this research program. L. pneumophila is the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, an important cause of community-acquired and nosocomial pneumonia with a high case-fatality rate approaching 50%. L. pneumophila is transmitted by inhalation of contaminated water droplets originating from human made water systems, such as showers and roof-top air-conditioning units. There is currently no insight into the global parameters affecting long-term survival of L. pneumophila or other water-borne pathogen in complex water microcosms, such as the ones found in contaminated water systems. I am proposing to use a reductionist approach in which the system will be reduced to its fundamental components and then the complexity of replicate systems will be increased one step at a time. My short-term objectives for the next five years are to identify and characterize genes underlying survivability in a pure water system and to characterize the effects of some environmental factors on the survivability in water and virulence potential. Integration of these findings should provide a global view of the genetic and environmental factors influencing L. pneumophila survival and transmission to mammalian hosts, and these findings should be applicable to other water-borne pathogens as well. This could provide new strategies to control the replication of bacterial pathogens inside man-made water systems and to prevent transmission to humans. This research program will allow the training of at least four highly qualified personnel per year in cutting-edge molecular techniques and water safety with regards to the presence of bacterial pathogens.

我的研究计划的长期目标是了解水环环境中水传播病原体生存的环境和遗传因素及其传播给人类宿主的生存。肺炎军团菌是一种用于研究毒力机制和水传播病原体的模型水传播病原体，将用于该研究计划。肺炎乳杆菌是军团疾病的病原体，这是社区获得性和医生性肺炎的重要原因，高病态型率接近50％。肺炎乳杆菌是通过吸入源自人制造的水系统（例如阵雨和屋顶空调单元）的污染水滴来传播的。目前尚无对影响肺炎乳杆菌或其他水传播病原体长期存活的全球参数的见解，例如在受污染的水系统中发现的肺炎。我建议使用简化主义方法，其中将系统简化为基本组件，然后重复系统的复杂性一次将增加一个步骤。我接下来五年的短期目标是识别和表征纯水系统中生存能力的基因，并表征某些环境因素对水和毒力潜力的生存能力的影响。这些发现的整合应提供影响肺炎乳杆菌存活以及向哺乳动物宿主传播的遗传和环境因素的全球视图，这些发现也应适用于其他水传播病原体。这可以提供新的策略来控制人造水系统内细菌病原体的复制并防止向人类传播。该研究计划将允许每年至少四名高素质的人员在尖端的分子技术和水安全方面培训有关细菌病原体的存在。