Research

Funding: H. Wilhelm Schaumann Stiftung, 57.600 EUR

Project Details:
Enterococcus cecorum (EC) is an increasingly relevant bacterial pathogen in broiler chickens, and the disease is globally widespread. Affected birds typically exhibit lameness in the second half of the production cycle due to inflammation of the thoracic vertebrae and hip joints. Mortality rates can exceed 10%, and culling rates and medication use increase significantly. EC infections are considered a major cause of the high frequency of antimicrobial treatments in broiler production. Additionally, they represent a significant animal welfare issue, as bone inflammations are highly likely to cause severe pain.

Management practices such as antibiotic therapies or prophylactic use can be problematic, as they promote resistance and contradict antibiotic stewardship principles. Therefore, alternative strategies are urgently needed, including vaccination programs, breeding approaches, management measures in parent stock farms and hatcheries, as well as the use of feed additives. However, scientific evidence confirming the effectiveness of these methods is still lacking.

Studies show that EC can survive in the environment for at least six months and can still be detected in certain areas of poultry house equipment even after cleaning and disinfection. Since only a subset of strains is pathogenic, targeted decontamination of parent stock farms, hatcheries, and broiler facilities could help contain the spread of the pathogen. Effective cleaning and disinfection are essential. In practice, disinfectants such as aldehydes, quaternary ammonium compounds, cresols, oxidative agents, and organic acids are commonly used. Physical methods such as UV irradiation or ozone fumigation are also applied. The effectiveness of these measures depends on factors such as the correct concentration of active substances, application technique, removal of organic residues, and structural conditions of the facility. Deficiencies in these areas can lead to pathogen persistence and subsequent infections.

For other Enterococcus species, reduced sensitivity to chemical disinfectants has been reported for certain strains. However, no corresponding data are currently available for EC. Clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecium from hospitals have also shown decreasing sensitivity to alcohol-based disinfectants.
Research Objectives:

-Investigation of EC sensitivity to various biocides
-Analysis of the effectiveness of UV irradiation as a physical disinfection method

The findings from this study aim to optimize disinfection strategies in poultry farming, reduce antibiotic use, and thereby improve both animal health and welfare.

Funding: EU Commission, 1.100.900 EUR

Project Details:
Work programme 2025-2027 of the EU Reference Laboratory for Classical Swine Fever

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Christoph Staubach (FLI Riems)

Funding: Fritz-Ahrberg-Stiftung, 100.000 EUR

Project Details:
The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, a zoonosis that can be transmitted to humans by infected cats or through the consumption of contaminated foodstuffs or inadequately heated meat from infected intermediate hosts. Primary infections during the early stages of pregnancy are of particular concern due to the absence of maternal immunity, which allows the pathogen to cause severe foetal damage and abortions. There is currently no comprehensive and systematic monitoring of the pathogen in the food chain in Germany. Moreover, the accessibility of the pertinent testing methodologies is constrained. The project therefore aims to develop a rapid, field-proven detection method based on the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technique and to corroborate its validity for pertinent food matrices. Thereafter, the method will be employed to appraise the impact of diverse manufacturing techniques employed on sample products on the pathogen load, and to extrapolate recommendations for industrial manufacturing processes.

Funding: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), 179.695 EUR

Project Details:
The study of animal immune systems in their natural environment is gaining increasing importance. In addition to naturally occurring factors influencing the immune system, the growing environmental stressors to which animals are exposed highlight the significance of the research field of ecoimmunology. This is particularly true for mosquitoes, the most important vectors of various pathogens, whose development, immune system, and vector competence are strongly influenced by environmental conditions. A key environmental factor is exposure to pollutants, which have become increasingly prevalent due to their widespread use.

This project focuses on analyzing mosquito breeding sites, assessing their contamination with various pollutants, and investigating the interaction between pollutant exposure and mosquito vector competence. In the first work package, field samples are collected and analyzed, and the most common pollutants are tested in laboratory experiments for their effects on mosquito larvae. Dose-response experiments are conducted to determine sublethal doses of these substances for use in subsequent experiments. In the second work package, behavioral assays are performed to assess oviposition preferences of female mosquitoes in pollutant-contaminated water samples. Larvae are reared in the test waters defined in Work Package 1 to investigate the impact of pollutant exposure on their development. Additionally, transcriptome analyses are carried out to explore changes in gene expression in larvae resulting from pollutant exposure.

The third work package investigates the vector competence of mosquito larvae for West Nile virus (WNV) after exposure to different pollutants during development. Both WNV-infected larvae reared in pollutant-containing water are examined in the adult stage for their ability to transmit the virus to blood meals, and uninfected larvae are reared in the same test waters, then infected as adults to measure viral load in saliva and viral kinetics. The findings from these studies aim to enhance our understanding of the interactions between environmental pollution and vector competence.

Cooperation Partners:

RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Institut für Umweltwissenschaften

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) , 322.642 EUR

Project Details:
The proposed research project aims to develop iron-based materials with an antibacterial effect as innovative implant materials to prevent implant infections. Infections counteract the benefits of the implants and are associated with considerable patients burdens and follow-up costs. They are connected with biofilm growth on the implant surface, which protects the causative germs from the immune system and therapies. Even with high medical standards, an infection cannot be completely avoided. Thus, among others, the increasing spread of multi-resistant germs endangers progress in medical technology. Most of the currently used inert implant materials have been developed without considering the problem of infection. Therefore, various approaches to modify implants are increasingly being addressed, e.g. by releasing anti-bacterially effective silver ions. The scope of the proposed research project is to create near-surface phases of a degradable silver alloy within an inert iron-based implant material for an adapted release of silver to prevent infection. Low doses are sufficient as the ions are released directly at the target site thus, bypassing the shielding effect of the biofilm. The complete insolubility of iron and silver in each other enables the setting of these silver phases but makes processing challenging. Powder metallurgical processes, such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), enable the processing of powder mixtures of the individual material components. Thus, LPBF is applied to set adapted phases of a degradable, functional silver alloy at the surface of iron-based, inert material 316L, resulting in a targeted release of silver ions. Due to particle release from the alloy, biocompatibility studies are examined with different cell types like primary osteoblasts and cell lines (fibroblasts and endothelial cells) to study inflammation parameters and anomalies of cell metabolism. Furthermore, co-incubation experiments with bacteria and cells are planned to study the antibacterial effect in various infection scenarios.

Results:

https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/538437364?language=en

Funding: Associations, 54.000 EUR

Project Details:
As part of chemical synthesis and subsequent modern spectroscopic studies, targeted modifications of ammonium iron hexacyanoferrate are being investigated.

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Damian A. Motz, Leibniz Universität Hannover

Funding: H. Wilhelm Schaumann Stiftung, 5.000 EUR

Project Details:
The feeding of farm animals has a big influence on our environment. Due to both, the resources fed and the excreted metabolic products, it is important to understand physiological processes in the metabolism of farm animals. Especially with regard to the "One Health" concept, we have to develop ways to ensure the health of humans and animals, as well as the supply of
food, despite the increasing world population and scarcity of resources, while minimizing the influence on nature.
Due to their ability to recycle phosphorus (P) and their nitrogen (N) utilization by the forestomach microbes, ruminants in particular represent an interesting test group for reducing
N- and P- levels in feed to a minimum. The planned studies should contribute to a better understanding of the adapted metabolic
processes during P- and N-reduced feeding and focus particularly on the regulation of amino acid transport in the liver under stress conditions.

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), 427.078 EUR

Project Details:
Therefore, we are particularly interested in this initial host-pathogen interaction that determines the outcome of the disease. In the present project, we will therefore investigate this important initial interaction of Mmm with the primary target cells of the host organism, both in vitro and in vivo, at the molecular level. In particular, we will elucidate the molecular basis of adhesion of the pathogen to the host cell. To this end, we will identify adhesins of Mmm and determine their cellular receptors. We will also study in detail the early response of host epithelial cells to contact with the pathogen. In addition, we will study the antibody response against molecules involved in the early phase of infection. The overall goal of this project is to better understand the molecular basis of the early interaction between pathogen and host. In doing so, we aim to identify target structures that may facilitate the development of new therapeutic tools.

Cooperation Partners:

PD Dr. Robert Kammerer

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut

Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit

Institut für Immunologie

17493 Greifswald

Dr. Christiane Schnee (seit 12/2024)

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut

Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit

Institut für molekulare Pathogenese

07743 Jena

Victor Mobegi, Ph.D.

University of Nairobi

Department of Medical Microbiology

Nairobi

Martin Kiogora Mwirigi

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization

Nairobi

Elise Schieck, Ph.D.

International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi

Dr. Martin Heller (bis 12/2024)

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut

Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit

Institut für molekulare Pathogenese

07743 Jena

Project Details:
The research project "WORMICs" investigates the three-dimensional genome structure of the giant mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and the superworm (Zophobas atratus) in collaboration with the institutes of food quality and safety and animal nutrition. The overall aim is to support the development of novel protein sources and, in particular, to achieve a deeper understanding of the genetic basis of growth and developmental processes in these insect species. A special emphasis is placed on the genetics of growth and the genomic regulation of growth-related traits. A central focus of the project is the methodological advancement and optimization of 3D genomics protocols, covering the full workflow from sample preparation and library construction to sequencing. The resulting sequencing data are analyzed using advanced bioinformatics approaches to identify structural and functional genomic features.