FLEAMICROBIOME
Effects of ecological factors on bacterial communities of fleas
| Coordinatore | BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV
Organization address
address: Office of the President - Main Campus contact info |
| Nazionalità Coordinatore | Israel [IL] |
| Totale costo | 100˙000 € |
| EC contributo | 100˙000 € |
| Programma | FP7-PEOPLE
Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) |
| Code Call | FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG |
| Funding Scheme | MC-CIG |
| Anno di inizio | 2011 |
| Periodo (anno-mese-giorno) | 2011-09-01 - 2015-08-31 |
Partecipanti
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV
Organization address
address: Office of the President - Main Campus contact info |
IL (BEER SHEVA) | coordinator | 100˙000.00 |
Mappa
Word cloud
Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.
Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)
'RESEARCH PROBLEM: The identification of potential ecological factors that affect the dynamics between hosts, vectors, and their microbes could have a marked impact on our ability to prevent and control vector-borne diseases. Recent studies have suggested that interactions among microbes within the individual vector may affect the density of a pathogen, and its transmission rate and virulence to the host. However, factors that affect the microbial composition of vectors remain obscure. I will use a rodent–flea model to elucidate the effects of three candidate factors, host age and grooming behavior, and vector densities on a host, that are likely to impact microbial diversity of vectors. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY: Pyrosequencing—a recent developed technique in molecular biology—allows a comprehensive assessment of microbial communities. The current project will make use of this technique to compare between the microbial assembly of fleas that will be collected during a field survey from juvenile and adult rodents, and during two laboratory experiments, in which host grooming and flea densities will be manipulated. EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION: In this study, I will investigate the relationships between multiple functional groups, i.e., hosts, vectors, and their commensal, mutualistic, and parasitic microbes. This approach is expected to uncover key mechanisms that would not – and could not – be revealed by focusing on a single pathogen. The results of the study can also serve as a basis for assessing the local risk of transmission of flea-borne diseases to animals and people and predicting whether this risk will change in response to changes in flea densities, host behavior, and host-age distribution. The interdisciplinary basic and applied importance and timeliness of the research topic – together with the match between my profile and project –promise the success of this project and its contribution to European excellence and European competitiveness.'