Description du projet
Des biofilms multi‑espèces dans l’industrie alimentaire
Les études sur les biofilms bactériens sur les surfaces en contact avec les aliments dans les industries alimentaires ont révélé une contamination par de nombreuses espèces bactériennes, y compris des bactéries responsables de l’altération des aliments et des bactéries sporulantes, qui restent en grande partie indemnes même après le nettoyage. Le projet Multispeciesbiofilm, financé par l’UE, étudiera la capacité de ces espèces à former des biofilms et mettra en évidence les interactions entre les différents groupes bactériens dans les combinaisons de biofilms multi‑espèces, notamment les bactéries sporulantes et non sporulantes, telles que les espèces Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas et Staphylococcus. L’objectif est de déterminer l’influence du nettoyage et de la désinfection simulés sur l’intégrité de ces biofilms sur l’acier inoxydable dans un modèle de biofilm basé sur un bioréacteur. Cette initiative pluridisciplinaire fera appel à la métatranscriptomique, à la microscopie confocale à balayage laser et à un biocapteur pour étudier le comportement bactérien dans les communautés de biofilms mixtes aux niveaux moléculaire et structurel.
Objectif
Dairy industry is one of the largest food manufacturing sectors of Europe. Stainless steel is extensively used throughout the milk processing chain and is subjected to fouling leading to biofilm formation. Biofilms in the dairy industry pose a serious threat to the quality and safety of food products. Most studies on bacterial biofilms of the food industry have focused on single or dual species biofilms, negating the role of multispecies bacterial interaction, which is now considered to be a fundamental approach in studying biofilm community structure, spatial organization and factors underlying the biofilm formation on surfaces. Results of a recent project
show that the food contact surfaces in the dairy industry in Belgium are contaminated with many different bacterial species, including several spoilers and spore-forming bacteria, which remain largely unaffected even after cleaning-in-place (CIP). Biofilm forming capacity of many of these species and their interaction, particularly the interaction between sporeformers and other non spore-forming bacteria such as Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas and Staphylococcus will be investigated. The objective is to model multispecies biofilms in different species combinations and monitor their behaviour and influence on each other from initial adherence to biofilm formation on a steel surface under conditions simulating real manufacturing operations. We plan to study the influence of simulated cleaning and disinfection techniques on the integrity of single and multispecies biofilms on stainless steel in a bioreactor based biofilm model. This project is multidisciplinary involving meta-transcriptomics, confocal laser scanning microscopy and a biosensor. This proposal includes a strong linkage opportunity between the host and two secondment partners. Successful completion of this project will lead to more fundamental understanding of the formation of biofilms in food industrial practice.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsbiosensors
- engineering and technologyenvironmental biotechnologybioremediationbioreactors
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedairy
- engineering and technologyother engineering and technologiesfood technologyfood safety
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopyconfocal microscopy
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
9820 Merelbeke
Belgique