Can CRISPR identify hidden Salmonella serotypes in turkeys?

Researchers at the University of Georgia plan to use gene editing technology CRISPR to link Salmonella serotypes seen at the turkey processing plant to live production.

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Peshkova | iStockPhoto.com
Peshkova | iStockPhoto.com

Researchers at the University of Georgia plan to use gene editing technology CRISPR to link Salmonella serotypes seen at the turkey processing plant to live production.

“There have been a few high-profile Salmonella outbreaks in turkeys in recent years. Each of these have been attributed to different Salmonella serotypes. As a result, there has been a big push in the turkey industry for improve Salmonella surveillance,” Dr. Nikki Shariat, Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health, at the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center at the University of Georgia, told Denise Heard, Director of Research Programs, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY).

The conversation was part of the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) Marketplace, which is being held virtually in 2021.

Hidden or masked serotypes

Traditionally, Salmonella serotyping focuses on identifying the most abundant serotypes present in a sample.

“We’ve always suspected that Salmonella exists in food animals as multi-serotypes – not just a single serotype of Salmonella, but multiple serotypes. Work from my lab has shown that this is often the case in broilers and cattle, so we expect to see the same in turkeys,” said Shariat.

The multiple serotypes are easy to identify in samples from the processing plant but are much harder to pinpoint in live production. In many cases, some serotypes occur frequently in a sample, while others are much more rare and therefore harder to detect.

“What we’re trying to determine in this project is whether those plant serotypes are actually present in live production, but they are just masked or hidden by serotypes that are more abundant or better able to grow during live production,” she explained.

CRISPR to the rescue

The hypothesis will be tested by genetically sequencing samples gathered throughout the harvest process, from hatcheries to the processing plant to the final product. The process uses a genetic sequencing technology called CRISPR, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats.

“We’ve made CRISPR-SeroSeq into a next-generation sequencing assay where you can identify all of the different serotypes that are present in a sequence based upon their CRISPR profile. This is a very sensitive approach where we can routinely find serotypes that are very low in the population,” Shariat said.

The project is funded by USPOULTRY.

Read more from IPPE Marketplace.

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