Genome evolution of Campylobacter bacteria and prediction of antibiotic resistances and virulence

The project deals with the epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, the most common acute foodborne diarrhoeal pathogens in humans worldwide. In addition to acute diarrhoeal diseases, these bacteria may also be involved in chronic inflammatory bowel diseases in humans. Antibiotic resistance is currently increasing rapidly in these and other gut pathogenic bacteria. By analysing the genome sequences of a large number of representative clinical isolates of the two most important Campylobacter species, the scientists involved in the project will draw conclusions about the expression and new acquisition of antibiotic resistance as well as novel genetic alterations that contribute to specific antibiotic resistance phenotypes. The data obtained will be used to develop new algorithms to predict resistance and other genetic changes relevant to the pathogenicity of specific bacterial strains.