Overview of research projects

Funding: BMBF, 198.361 EUR

Project Details:
Noroviruses are the most prevalent viral cause of acute gastroenteritis. At least 40 noroviruses have been
described, with new variants regularly emerging. Norovirus evolution, emergence, and circulation are not
entirely understood, especially the role of a potential animal reservoir is insufficiently investigated. Several
lines of evidence suggest norovirus transmission between humans and animals. However, there is no in
vitro system to investigate interspecies transmission to date. Here we set out to establish an ex vivo system
based on intestinal biopsies of various animal species to investigate interspecies norovirus transmission
experimentally. We will use biopsies of dogs, pigs, and chickens as they are highly abundant and kept in
close contact with humans. The risk for transmission is therefore increased. Precision-cut intestinal slices
will be set up and used to investigate norovirus binding, entry/internalization, and replication in the
respective host tissues. Furthermore, the role of the known susceptibility factors, the histo blood group
antigens, will be investigated. Once established, this explant system will allow the investigation of norovirus
receptors, attachment factors and other host determinants in humans and non-human animal species. The
system will also be valuable for investigating other enteric viruses with zoonotic potential, including
coronaviruses, influenza viruses, and dog and pig-specific noroviruses.

Funding: Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde, 69.271 EUR

Project Details:
In this project, the population of harbor seals and grey seals will be surveyed over a period of 12 months (2023-2024) to assess their abundance and distribution in the Tidal Elbe area. The aerial surveys of the seal population in the Elbe estuary will take place from August 2023 to July 2024. During the flight along all known and potential haul-out sites, images will be taken with a high-resolution digital SLR camera and subsequently analysed. This conversion to the photo-based method was successfully carried out in previous projects and innovatively further developed in order to be able to provide the client with reliable figures and the highest possible transparency as well as reproducibility of the results.

Funding: Europa-Programm des Niedersächsischen Ministeriums für Wissenschaft und Kultur aus Mitteln von SPRUNG, 79.770 EUR

Project Details:
The focus is on studying the evolution of viruses in the two hosts arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks) and mammals and the implications for host receptor usage.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Dr. Félix Rey, Institut Pasteur, Paris, Frankreich

Funding: Universität Aarhus, 6.119 EUR

Project Details:
On behalf of the University of Aarhus (Denmark), data from observer-based aerial survey flights to determine the abundance and distribution of small cetaceans in the southern Danish North Sea will be analyzed. The main target species is the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena). The aerial surveys are conducted following line-transect survey methodology and data will be collected according to the so-called SCANS protocol. The data are expected to come from at least three surveys in May, June and October 2023. ITAW has been commissioned to perform quality assurance and analysis of the collected data. Densities and abundances of harbour porpoises will be estimated for each survey and the inaccuracies (95% confidence intervals and coefficient of variation (CV)) associated with the estimation will be determined. The processed data and results will be submitted to the client.

Results:

engl.: For the surveys of the study area in the southern North Sea, densities and abundances of harbour porpoises were estimated and the inaccuracies (95% confidence intervals and coefficient of variation (CV)) associated with the estimation were determined. The processed data and results were submitted to the client.

Funding: Nationalparkverwaltung "Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer"", Virchowstr. 1, 26383 Wilhelmshaven", 38.243 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is a survey of the local grey seal population in the entire Lower Saxony and Hamburg Wadden Sea during the birthing season (November-December) 2023 and at the time of the fur change (March-April) 2024.
On five trilaterally coordinated dates (three during the birthing season; two during the fur-change period), airborne surveys will be conducted with a single-engine aircraft. During the aerial surveys of the tidal flats, a high-resolution SLR camera will be used to photograph the haul-outs. In order to determine the number of young born as well as the total population, the photos taken are subsequently analyzed on the computer.

Funding: BMBF, 122.004 EUR

Project Details:
Every year, about 750,000 people die from mosquito-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, rift valley fever and chikungunya fever. The incidence of these diseases is expected to increase significantly over the next few decades, as the ranges of several mosquito species are expanding due to climate
change. Mosquitoes not only transmit diseases, but can also influence the severity of the diseases they transmit. It has been shown in experimental infections of animals, the transmission of arboviruses by mosquito bites compared to artificial infection can lead to an increase in the severity of the disease. In
addition, it is known that the saliva of insects and ticks can promote the progression of vector-borne diseases. The skin is the first organ to be exposed to an arbovirus infection, thus the initial infection events also significantly determine the course of the disease. It is therefore essential for many to investigate a natural infection of the skin via a mosquito bite. So far, this could only be achieved by in-vivo experiments (animal experiments). In this project, an alternative is to be developed by replacing animal models with human skin explants for ethical and physiological reasons. The challenge of this study will be to establish an assay in which mosquitoes can use the skin implants as potential hosts. The goal is a successful biting of the skin explants by mosquitoes. Exemplarily, in a second step the skin explants should be infected via bite of Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV) and/or Chikungunya Virus (CHIKV)-infected mosquitoes. If
successful, the project results will allow to choose from different models for future research questions.

Funding: Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft, 46.497 EUR

Project Details:
The aim of the project is to establish he first agricultural skills lab to improve practical skills in training in order to promote better animal welfare in education. New social and political demands in agriculture, which may require new practical skills, can be implemented in the skills lab and learned and deepened in a protected learning environment. The agricultural skills lab is intended to address different target groups (trainees to become farmers/animal keepers, trainees to become master craftsmen, obtain relevant additional qualifications (e.g. insemination technicians) and students of agricultural science / livestock science) and encourage exchange and learning from one another and with one another between the different groups improve audiences.

Cooperation Partners:

Lehr- und Versuchszentrum Futterkamp, Landwirtschaftskammer Schleswig-Holstein

Dr. Sophie Diers

Gutshof 1, 24327 Blekendorf

Funding: KWS Lochow GmbH, 61.988 EUR

Project Details:
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Funding: Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, 110.319 EUR

Project Details:
In der Nutztierhaltung insgesamt, aber auch in der Masthähnchenhaltung im Speziellen, besteht die dringende Notwendigkeit zur Reduktion des Arzneimitteleinsatzes vor dem Hintergrund der damit verbundenen Umweltbelastung. Durch den Einsatz von Mikroalgen soll eine präventive Förderung der Tiergesundheit erreicht werden. Mikroorganismen sind einzellige, pflanzliche Organismen, die über diverse phytogene Inhaltsstoffe mit antiinflammatorischen, immunstimulierenden oder antioxidativen Wirkungen verfügen. In diesem Projekt sollen die Effekte ausgewählter Mikroalgen auf Leistung und Tiergesundheit sowohl in der konventionellen als auch in der ökologischen Masthähnchenhaltung untersucht werden.

Cooperation Partners:

Microganic GmbH, Melle

Funding: Drittmittelprojekt, gefördert durch die Fritz-Ahrberg-Stiftung., 100.000 EUR

Project Details:
(Deep)freezing is a process for preserving fat. Both the duration and the temperature of the freezing treatment influence the physicochemical and sensory quality of the fat and also the quality of the products made with this fat (Flavia et al. 2014). In our opinion, there have been no studies that have related the influence of the freezing duration and temperature of fat to the quality of the cooked sausage produced with it. For this reason, in the project pork and turkey fat will be stored after freezing for up to 24 weeks at -18 °C and approx. -80 °C. After 12 and 24 weeks, the fat will be processed to cooked cured sausages. The products will be directly characterised with regard to physicochemical (e.g. colour, pH value, aw value, antioxidative capacity), microbiological (e.g. total bacterial count) and sensory properties (following the DLG 5-point scheme). The products will then be cut, packaged in a protective gas atmosphere and stored according to the storage time, which is typical for the product in retail. The control products contain fat that was frozen overnight (for technological reasons).