chelOMICS · Application of multi-OMICS approaches to provide a holistic understanding of siderophore mediated host-pathogen interactions and new diagnostic options for aquaculture fish infections
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2022-09-16 → 2024-09-15
- EU contribution
- €181,153
- Participants
- 3
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
chelOMICS: Application of multi-OMICS approaches to provide a holistic understanding of siderophore mediated host-pathogen interactions and new diagnostic options for aquaculture fish infections
Aquaculture plays a critical role in addressing global food demands as wild fish stocks are declining due to overfishing and environmental changes. However, one of the greatest challenges in fish farming is the outbreak of infectious diseases, such as vibriosis, which lead to significant economics losses that are estimated to exceed 6 billion US dollar annually. Traditional diagnostic methods often lack the speed and precision necessary to prevent large-scale disease outbreaks, highlighting a pressing need for innovative and sustainable disease management strategies. The overarching objective of this project is to develop an accurate disease diagnostic tool for vibriosis in aquaculture fish using an innovative iron-chelator metabolomics approach, which we termed ‘chelOMICS’. This project aims to identify specific siderophores – iron-chelating metabolites produced by pathogenic bacteria – that can be used as specific disease biomarkers of vibriosis. By integrating modern multi-omics approaches we want to provide a holistic understanding of the contribution of siderophores in host-pathogen interactions in farmed fish during infection. This project aligns with the global efforts to ensure food security and promoting more sustainable aquaculture practices, which include reducing use of antibiotics and implementing proactive disease management strategies. Our research addresses this need by investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying bacterial infections and providing tools that can lead to the early detection of diseases, thereby promoting healthier fish populations and reducing dependency on antibiotics, which in turn curbs the rise of antibiotic resistance.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Outbreaks of bacterial diseases pose a persistent challenge to fish farming around the world causing significant economic loss. To improve efficiency, safety, and sustainability of aquaculture new health monitoring and rapid disease diagnostics approaches are required. Here, we propose an ambitious multidisciplinary project that implements modern multi-omics tools, in particular metabolomics and metagenomics, to provide a holistic understanding of host-pathogen interactions in farmed fish in the context of three major bacterial diseases; vibriosis, photobacteriosis, and furunculosis. This project will focus specifically on the metabolome of siderophores, iron chelating microbial metabolites that are key virulence factors during infection, and their use as biomarkers for early disease diagnostics. In nature, microorganisms exist in diverse communities and therefore infections can be caused by a combination of species yet the involvement of co-species in disease progression is poorly understood and represents a great diagnostic challenge. I have gained extensive skills in metabolomics through my PhD in Australia and postdoctoral experience in Germany. This project will enable me to go one step further; I will use different bioinformatic tools as well as imaging analytical chemistry (MALDI-IMS) approaches to integrate metabolomics and microbiome data and answer important ecological questions in aquaculture. I am highly motivated to take on this new challenge and acquire new scientific and transferable skills, which will strengthen my profile as an independent researcher and increase my opportunities for a permanent position after the fellowship.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/101066127
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e510c7dd7a&appId=PPGMS
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e5f902dfac&appId=PPGMS
Data: CORDIS, © European Union