Objective
The goal of this project is to reduce the faecal excretion, carcass and internal and external egg contamination of Salmonella in chickens. Poultry products are indeed a major source of food-borne salmonellosis for human beings today and therefore constitute a significant public health hazard. It has a highly deleterious effect on the public perception of poultry production if an accident occurs. The way to achieve this goal is the selection of poultry lines resistant to Salmonella infection. Salmonella resistance will be chosen as a start since resistance to this bacteria has already been established in chickens. Faecal and genital routes of Salmonella transmission will be supposed to have different genetic determinants involving either a major gene or polygenes. The search for the genes involved can be helped by knowledge acquired in mice where a Salmonella resistance gene has already been described. In order to avoid deleterious effects on other economic traits, particular attention will be given to the eventual negative impact of resistance and major quantitative traits such as egg and meat production. Common resistance to other bacteria will also be studied to try to broaden the effect of selection. Moreover poultry may constitute a relevant model for other animal species.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
37380 Nouzilly
France