Overview of research projects

Funding: Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachen , 227.674 EUR

Project Details:
Since the ban on cage housing in Germany in 2010, many laying hens are kept in alternative housing systems with free-range access. In Lower Saxony, approximately 23% of laying hens are housed in conventional free-range systems, while around 16% are kept under organic farm conditions. Particularly in these systems, an increasing parasite burden from intestinal worms has been observed, as worm eggs accumulate in the outdoor areas, and there are only limited biosecurity measures available for prevention and treatment.
Depending on the intensity of the infestation, worm infections can lead to significant health impairments in laying hens. These include general well-being disturbances, reduced performance, delayed growth, gastrointestinal damage and, in severe cases, even death. Effective worm control presents a major challenge for many free-range farms, particularly for those operating under organic standards. Addressing this issue requires strategic planning, targeted interventions and subsequent success monitoring.
The "Worm-free" project focuses on alternative measures to reduce worm infestations in free-range laying hen flocks. Over the course of three years, 50 flocks will be monitored for one production cycle each. By continuously recording management practices and regularly assessing parasite loads, the effectiveness of different farm-specific interventions will be evaluated.
As part of the project, a web application is also being developed to support laying hen farmers in identifying the risk of increased parasite burdens in their flocks and implementing effective countermeasures.

Funding: BMEL, 318.427 EUR

Project Details:
The project is carried out on DIL e.V., Quakenbrück.
The aim of this project is to develop and evaluate a concept for the extraction and processing of proteins from brewer's yeast in the highest possible native and functional form on a pilot scale. The proteins and other valuable substances of the yeast are mostly located within the cells and are therefore not easily accessible for conventional extraction or precipitation. Therefore, cell disruption is necessary, in order to increase access to the proteins. Residues from the brewing process also adhere to the yeast. These include gluten and bitter substances from the hops. Therefore, in the first step the aim is to develop a process for removing the bitter substances and gluten as far as technically possible (AP 1). The yeast cells are then physically disrupted so that the proteins dissolved in the cell plasma can escape. For this purpose, two mechanical methods are used in this research project: (1) electroporation using pulsed electric fields (PEF, WP 3), and (2) ultra-high-pressure homogenization (UHPH, WP 2). After the cell disruption, the cell wall components are separated from the protein-rich suspension/solution using the principle of separation by density or centrifugal forces in a plate separator. The proteins obtained will then be processed and stabilized and examined for their sensory, techno-functional and nutritional properties (WP 4), as well as their suitability to produce selected exemplary food products (WP 5). Once the process has been established for brewer's yeast, it will be validated with yeasts from other sources (WP 6). Finally, a life cycle assessment (LCA, WP 7) will be carried out using the data obtained during the proejct to compare the environmental impact of the proteins obtained to protein of soy and milk. During the LCA, the entire process will be included, i.e. the energy requirements of the new technologies will also be taken into account and compared with the production process of soy and milk proteins. In cooperation with the industrial partners, the feasibility and economic viability of the entire process will be evaluated (AP 8).

Cooperation Partners:

Elea Technology GmbH, Leiber GmbH

Funding: Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung, 170.000 EUR

Project Details:
In this project we are testing a therapeutic drug candidate to reduce alpha-synuclein pathology in an animal model of Parkinson's disease.

Cooperation Partners:

Prof. Rossner, Paul Flechsig Institut für Hirnforschung, Universität Leipzig

Project Details:
Wildlife populations in Germany and Europe are declining due to factors like habitat loss, intensive agriculture, and climate change. As more animals are rehabilitated, there is a lack of data on their survival after release. This project aims to monitor the survival and activity of species such as buzzards, sea eagles, and hedgehogs using telemetry and transponder systems to better understand the success and challenges of wildlife rehabilitation.

Cooperation Partners:

Wildtier und Artenschutz Station Sachsenhagen

Max-Planck-Institut für biologische Intelligenz

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) , 287.753 EUR

Project Details:
Prenatal (in ovo) events have an impact on postnatal life. Prenatal "treatments" may have a positive influence on adaptation to postnatal conditions. The targeted modulation of conditions during in ovo development could be a means for improving productive adaptability relating to growth and thermotolerance. The in ovo development of birds is a valuable model for studying environmental influences on early development and their long-term consequences. This is especially pertinent for myogenesis, where the response mechanisms to environmental influences on cell proliferation and differentiation can be studied. As chicken embryos have no active temperature regulation, a change in incubation temperature directly affects their body temperature. This leads to changes in the kinetics of biochemical processes and, in particular, the kinetics of relevant metabolic enzymes, which are likely associated with activity-dependent muscle and body growth. Our previous study demonstrated the respective effects on energy metabolism of low and high incubation temperatures between ED 7-10 and ED 10-13 immediately after treatment and in adulthood in broilers and identified changes in gene expression underlying the phenotypic responses. We intend to follow up on and answer the questions arising from this earlier study by analysing the effects of increased and decreased incubation temperatures within a specific treatment period (ED 10-13) on various metabolic, biochemical, and histological traits as well as on gene expression and epigenetic changes in day-old broiler and layer chicks. We will consider the one-day-of-age stage as representing the cumulative effect of the in ovo developmental processes. The aim is to uncover functional relationships along the genotype-phenotype map from the genome to the metabolome, via the epigenome and transcriptome, in response to changes in incubation temperature.

Cooperation Partners:

PD Dr. Siriluck Wimmers und Prof. Dr. Klaus Wimmers, Forschungsinstitut für Nutztierbiologie, Dummerstorf

Funding: Fritz-Ahrberg-Stiftung, 70.000 EUR

Project Details:
Consumer behaviour in our society is changing, with vegetarian and vegan diets becoming increasingly popular. This has led to a significant increase in the production of vegetarian and vegan sausage and meat substitutes in Germany. Various products made from plant-based protein sources are now available. With intensified production, however, the importance of food hygiene is also increasing. In terms of consumer health, vegetarian and vegan substitute are required to be of impeccable microbiological quality. Currently, there are no explicit legal specifications for assessing the microbiological parameters of these products. There has also been little scientific research into this topic to date. Only a few studies focus on the microbiological quality of vegan minced meat or other selected vegetarian and vegan meat substitutes. So far, few studies have focused on microbiological growth during the shelf life of these products. A direct comparison with conventional sausage and meat products has not been made.
The initial aim of this project is to obtain an overview of the microbiological composition of commercially available vegetarian and vegan sausage and meat substitutes. In addition, data on the persistence and proliferation of pathogenic germs in these products over the entire shelf life is to be collected. In this way, a foundation can be established for microbiological guidance, warning and critical values as well as for the assessment of the health risk of these products. In particular, differences and similarities in comparison to conventional sausage and meat products will be analysed. Are the plant-based substitutes generally more or less contaminated with germs than conventional products? Which (pathogenic) germs are to be expected in the substitutes? How do survival, persistence and growth rates of selected pathogenic germs in the substitutes compare to conventional sausage and meat products? These key food hygiene aspects will be addressed in this project.

Funding: DFG, 482.000 EUR

Project Details:
Streptococcus suis is a frequent colonizer of the upper respiratory tract of pigs, but can also cause severe systemic diseases like meningitis and septicemia. However, pathogenesis of S. suis infection and the role of its virulence-associated factors, namely the pore-forming toxin suilysin (SLY) and the D-alanine-D-alanyl carrier ligase (DltA), is still not fully understood. So far, it is known that SLY damages different host cells by lytic pore formation and induces an inflammatory response leading to the release of cytokines, especially by monocytes/macrophages, and the recruitment of neutrophils. D-alanylation of lipoteichoic acids in the cell wall by DltA is known to increase resistance against antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and phagocytosis of S. suis by neutrophils.
Our aim is to clarify the role of SLY and DltA in S. suis colonization of the porcine respiratory tract, systemic dissemination via the bloodstream, and invasion of the central nervous system. Thereby we will focus on their influence on innate immunity cells and the crosstalk between monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils. We hypothesize that the host compartments influence the expression of sly and dltA differentially and that vice versa SLY and DltA influence the host?s innate immune response by modulating the crosstalk between neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages contributing to the resistance of. S. suis towards immune defense mechanisms.
To investigate this, we will use complex in vitro cell culture systems that closely mimic the in vivo situation of the three main host compartments: a co-culture system of primary respiratory epithelial cells differentiated under air-liquid interface conditions and alveolar macrophages, porcine precision-cut lung slices, a reconstituted whole blood model, and the blood cerebrospinal fluid barrier model. Infection experiments will be performed with S. suis serotype 2 wild-type strain (wt), its isogenic mutants Δsly, ΔdltA, and ΔdltAΔsly as well as the respective complemented mutant strains.
We will start with the analysis of sly and dltA expression in the three compartments by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting, followed by the investigation of the neutrophil and the monocyte/macrophage response towards S. suis wt and sly- and dltA-deficient mutants. We will focus on the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps, reactive oxygen species production, phagocytic activity, and the release of certain cytokines and AMPs. Finally, we will investigate how secretions from monocytes/macrophages induced by S. suis infection influence neutrophils regarding their transmigration, inflammatory response, and phagocytic capacity, and vice versa.
The detailed investigation of the innate immune response towards S. suis infection in the three different compartments will help to better understand the switch of S. suis as a colonizer to an invasive pathogen, and how SLY and DltA are involved in this process.

Cooperation Partners:

Dr. Sophie Öhlmann (Institut für Bakteriologie und Mykologie, Veterinärmedizinische Fakultät, Universität Leipzig)

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), 155.950 EUR

Project Details:
Abstract:
Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a highly contagious morbillivirus, which causes severe systemic disease with involvement of the respiratory tract in domestic and wildlife carnivores. Innate immune cells play a key role in the pathogenesis in a variety of viral respiratory diseases. However, the knowledge about pulmonary innate immunity in canine distemper is still fragmentary. The envisioned project is based on our previous work, in which it could be demonstrated that innate immune cells are able to carry CDV to facilitate cell-to-cell transmission in the respiratory tract and that restriction of antiviral signaling pathways of innate immune cells enhance virus release from the lung in canine distemper. The first part of the project aims at investigating the polarizing effect of CDV upon innate immune cells in vitro. Here the ability of CDV to influence the phenotype of pulmonary and blood-derived macrophages, and the maturation state of monocyte-derived dendritic cells will be analyzed by flow cytometry. In addition, virus-mediated effects upon macrophages and dendritic cells will be characterized by whole transcriptome analyses and functional assays, including mixed leukocyte reaction, as well as migration, phagocytosis and nitric oxide release assays. In the second part, the impact of macrophage polarity and dendritic cell maturation upon CDV cell entry and the capacity of modulated innate immune cells to transmit CDV to the airway epithelium will be investigated using canine air-liquid interface cultures and precision-cut lung slices. In addition, virus-induced cytopathic effects and ultrastructural changes, such as ciliary pathology and apoptosis induction, as well as the regenerative capacity of infected cultures will be determined. The study will give mechanistic insights in the dysfunction of pulmonary innate immunity in CDV infection and its impact on disease pathogenesis. Elucidating the regulatory mechanisms through which pathogens regulate innate immune cell plasticity will contribute to the discovery of therapeutic targets in morbillivirus diseases and prevention of virus transmission to other hosts.

Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), 155.950 EUR

Project Details:
Abstract:
Canine distemper virus (CDV) is a highly contagious morbillivirus, which causes severe systemic disease with involvement of the respiratory tract in domestic and wildlife carnivores. Innate immune cells play a key role in the pathogenesis in a variety of viral respiratory diseases. However, the knowledge about pulmonary innate immunity in canine distemper is still fragmentary. The envisioned project is based on our previous work, in which it could be demonstrated that innate immune cells are able to carry CDV to facilitate cell-to-cell transmission in the respiratory tract and that restriction of antiviral signaling pathways of innate immune cells enhance virus release from the lung in canine distemper. The first part of the project aims at investigating the polarizing effect of CDV upon innate immune cells in vitro. Here the ability of CDV to influence the phenotype of pulmonary and blood-derived macrophages, and the maturation state of monocyte-derived dendritic cells will be analyzed by flow cytometry. In addition, virus-mediated effects upon macrophages and dendritic cells will be characterized by whole transcriptome analyses and functional assays, including mixed leukocyte reaction, as well as migration, phagocytosis and nitric oxide release assays. In the second part, the impact of macrophage polarity and dendritic cell maturation upon CDV cell entry and the capacity of modulated innate immune cells to transmit CDV to the airway epithelium will be investigated using canine air-liquid interface cultures and precision-cut lung slices. In addition, virus-induced cytopathic effects and ultrastructural changes, such as ciliary pathology and apoptosis induction, as well as the regenerative capacity of infected cultures will be determined. The study will give mechanistic insights in the dysfunction of pulmonary innate immunity in CDV infection and its impact on disease pathogenesis. Elucidating the regulatory mechanisms through which pathogens regulate innate immune cell plasticity will contribute to the discovery of therapeutic targets in morbillivirus diseases and prevention of virus transmission to other hosts.

Funding: BLE, 443.163 EUR

Project Details:
The objective of the project is to assess the potential of the organic rearing system for dual-purpose chicken breeds under the aspects of a resource-efficient optimized feeding and animal welfare.
The focus is on the integration of two different insect species (Acheta domesticus/n.n.) and macroalgae (Palmaria palmata/n.n.) into the feeding regimes of currently used breeds in organic farming.

Cooperation Partners:

Oekologische Tierzucht gGmbH

Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut

Hochschule für nachhaltige Entwicklung Eberswalde

Leibniz-Institut für Agrartechnik und Bioökonomie e. V.

Bioland Beratung GmbH