Project description
Understanding microbial competition for the benefits of infection treatment
Our bodies host an enormous number of microbes which are crucial for our health. The composition and function of these microbial communities are shaped by how the microbes influence each other's growth. Pathogens interact with the existing microbial communities, and the native microbes can repel or support the pathogens. The EU-funded BugDrug project aims to develop a microscopy method to define interaction networks within complex communities. The project will answer how interactions between pathogens and native gut microbiota can protect a host from infections. This technology will help to identify bacteria in the native gut community that can outcompete pathogens, revolutionising the usage of probiotics and offering new ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases.
Objective
Our body is inhabited by an enormous number of microbes which are crucial for our health. The bacteria in our gut for example help us to digest food but can also make us sick in case of an infection. The overall composition and function of those communities are strongly shaped by the interactions of the microbes within them e.g. how the microbes influence each others growth. These interactions are especially important in the case of microbial infections. Since pathogens have to interact with the microbial communities that already inhabit the host, the native microbes can repel or support the pathogens and thus protect the host from diseases or even facilitate them. Although microbial assemblages are pivotal for our health we have currently no satisfying way to get a mechanistic understanding of them which would be crucial to specifically manipulate these communities e.g. for therapeutic interventions. The aim of this proposal is to develop a microscopy method that allows to obtain interaction networks within complex communities. Since bacteria can only share the same space if they tolerate each other but avoid each other in case of competition, interaction networks of complex communities can be derived from the spatial co-occurence of the bacteria that form them. With this technology I especially want to investigate how pathogens embed into the native gut microbial community of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. I want to understand how interactions between pathogens and native gut microbiota can protect a host from infections. Finally, I want to use this technology to identify bacteria in the native gut community that can outcompete pathogens and work as specific probiotic against microbial infections. This approach could revolutionize the usage of probiotics and offer completely new ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases, which are especially valuable in times where we see more and more pathogens become resistant against antibiotics.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy
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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.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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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
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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.
ERC-STG - Starting Grant
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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) ERC-2020-STG
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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.
72074 Tuebingen
Germany
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.