Research project
Report on UK publicly funded research relating to Enterovirulent Escherichia coli and the microbiological safety of food
A new report in a series providing an overview of publicly funded research relating to microbiological safety of food has been produced by the Microbiological Safety of Food Funders Group (MSFFG).
The report was published in May 2010 and reviews UK publicly funded research on Enterovirulent Escherichia coli in relation to the microbiological safety of food. This includes research on verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC) which commenced over the period 2004-2008 and other projects describing research into Enterovirulent E. coli which started during 2000-2008.
This report covers a total of 85 projects which fall broadly into two categories. Those investigating the basic fundamental research into bacterial physiology and pathogenicity and those with an applied research focus. Many of the fundamental research projects have a molecular biology element which reflects the availability of E. coli genome sequences, while the applied projects focus largely on VTEC and the detection, reduction and elimination of the organism from cattle and the food supply chain.
The projects described in this report provide data and information both of the fundamental biology of Enterovirulent E. coli, and the presence and control of VTEC in the food chain in the context of human health. There remains a need to bring together these areas of research to ensure that information on pathogenicity can be applied to further current understanding of the relationship between host and pathogen.
The MSFFG is a cross-representational group involving bodies that fund microbiological research in the area of food safety. Further information on the membership and work of the MSFFG can be found on this website and the MSFFG website.