Project description
The genus Burkholderia: friends or foes?
Bacteria of the genus Burkholderia exhibit different ways of interacting with the host, such as mutualism, commensalism or pathogenicity. Although certain species are beneficial to plants, others, such as B. cenocepacia, cause severe infections in cystic fibrosis and immunocompromised patients. The scope of the EU-funded GOOD OR BAD BUGS project is to investigate the dissimilarities between the beneficial and the pathogenic Burkholderia species. Researchers are working under the hypothesis that genomic differences are the ones that dictate host colonisation and interaction. Using the high-throughput genetic screening method of transposon-sequencing, they will identify genes associated with bacterial fitness in a particular environment. The project's results have important implications for both agriculture and medicine.
Objective
"""What better microbial challenge to unite agricultural and medical microbiologists than a microoorganism that reduces an onion to a macerated pulp, protects crops from diseases, devastates the health and social life of cystic fibrosis patients, and not only is resistant to the most famous antibiotic, penicillin, but can use it as a nutrient!"". The genus Burkholderia accommodates around 120 species that colonize a wide range of ecological niches and interact with hosts in different ways such as mutualism, commensalism or pathogenicity. Opportunistic pathogens like B. cenocepacia cause severe infections in cystic fibrosis and immunocompromised patients, and mutualists such as B. phytofirmans are beneficial to plants. Although very promising for agriculture, the use of the latter is severely restrained due to the potential threat that a few opportunistic pathogenic strains pose to human health. In the last years, a lot of effort has been invested into discriminating between the beneficial and the pathogenic strains. However, these studies have been unsuccessful so far and novel approaches are needed to better understand the potential risks/benefits associated to Burkholderia species before these can keep being used in agriculture.
Friends or foes? The GOOD OR BAD BUGS project aims to unravel the dissimilarities between the beneficial (the good) and the pathogenic (the bad) Burkholderia species. We hypothesize that differences in the genomes of the Burkholderia species allow them to colonize and interact with their host differently, leading to mutualism, commensalism or pathogenicity. In this project we will employ a cutting-edge high-throughput genetic screening method known as transposon-sequencing to study host colonization by members of the genus Burkholderia. This promising methodology will help to identify genes that provide a fitness in a particular environment. The outcome of the project will be of interest both at the agriculture and the medicine levels."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
8006 Zurich
Switzerland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.