IGEM:Imperial/2010/Detection of contaminants and pathogens

Introduction

At the moment we plan to couple our "rapid response" system to a detection system for water contaminants or pathogens, especially parasites. For this we have been doing a literature research for bacteria that are able to sense and/or interact with common parasites of humans.

Salmonella and Schistosoma

A number of papers (Link) from around 1970-1985 point out the association of Salmonella with Schistosoma parasites in patients. There is evidence that special type 1 pili are involved in this interaction that is thought to help Salmonella reproduce by providing a reproduction focus and evade the host immune system. So far we have not been able to learn about the exact molecular mechanism behind this interaction so we have still to demonstrate that exploiting this system for parasite detection is feasible. This paper gives loads of information about the expression of fimbriae proteins and how fimbriae are assembled. It also hints about the downstream pathways, but not in much detail...

Wolbachia and Mansonella

Also the parasite Mansonella perstans needs an endosymbiont - a Wolbachia species - to survive and be virulent (Paper 1Paper 2). Unfortunately no information about the molecular mechanism of this interaction is given. Wolbachia bacteria are frequently found in insects, where they act as intracellular parasites, however they often have a symbiotic relationship. Wolbachia is an obligate intracellular endosymbiont without which the worm cannot survive in the host (targetting the bacteria with antibiotics is an effective treatment for Mansonella infections). The promlem seems to be that no extracelluar interactions are required between the worm and the bacteria as they are passed down horizontally to the offspring and thus never have to enter the worm cells in the first place.