SFB 852:  Nutrition and Intestinal Microbiota - Host Interaction in the Pig

• Subject Area: Medicine ; Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine
• Term: from 2010 to 2014
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 92137290

The scientific aim of the Collaborative Research Centre is to characterise the influence of nutritional factors on the function of the intestine and on animal health in the pig using innovative, experimental, analytical and bioinformatic methods. In the first funding period, research efforts are focussed on feed additives and, in particular, on mechanistic studies on the effects of probiotics as well as the trace mineral zinc.
The integrative concept of the Collaborative Research Centre enables the characterisation of the intestinal microbiota and its metabolic activity, the reaction of the host organism and the interactions between both. This is reflected in two project areas of the Collaborative Research Centre, which examine the intestinal microbiota and physiological and pathophysiological processes in the gastrointestinal tract. The research programme of the Collaborative Research Centre consists of four central project areas, whose cross-disciplinary functions are organisational, analytical, experimental and the promotion of young researchers in an integrated Research Training Group.
The project areas build on findings obtained by the Research Unit 438 (Integrative Analysis of Probiotics in the Pig), which was funded by the DFG for a period of over six years, and further this knowledge in specific regard to the functional aspects of the effects of nutritional factors (“mode of action”). The projects contribute substantially to the understanding of the biology of nutrition in the pig, and provide new insights into the field of nutrition-host-interactions as well as into their modulations.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

• A01 - Molecular biology methods to study the influence of feed supplements on structure and selected functions of intestinal beacterial communities in piglets (Project Head Vahjen, Wilfried )
• A02 - Influence of nutritional factors on the prevalence of viruses, including viruses with zoonotic potential, in faeces of clinically healthy pigs (Project Head Johne, Reimar )
• A03 - Effects of feed additives and probiotics on the dynamics of E.coli populations and the anti-inflammatory immune response in the swine gut (Project Heads Hartmann, Susanne ;  Tedin, Ph.D., Karsten ;  Wieler, Lothar H. )
• A04 - Characterization of the procine Campylobacter coli population structure and the effect of probiotics on colonization and shedding of Campylobacter coli (Project Heads Alter, Thomas ;  Hertwig, Stefan )
• A05 - Modulation of prevalence, pathogenesis and immune control of pathogenic procine viruses by treatment with E.faecium of zinc (Project Heads Osterrieder, Nikolaus ;  Schmidt, Michael F.G. )
• A06 - Identification of mechanisms of probiotic action and effects of zinc on the proteome of Escherichia coli populations in swine (Project Heads Blaut, Michael ;  Loh, Gunnar )
• A07 - Challenge studies on the effect of zinc supplementation and a probiotic (Enterococcus faecium NCIMB 10ß415) on the colonization and shedding of Salmonella Typhimurium in weaning pigs (Project Heads Appel, Bernd ;  Nöckler, Karsten )
• B01 - Characterization fo the interaction of luminal factors with the intestinal epithelium: Signaling pathways and effects on transport properties (Project Head Martens, Holger )
• B02 - Paracellular intestinal barrier effects of probiotics and feed additives (Project Heads Fromm, Michael ;  Schulzke, Jörg-Dieter )
• B03 - Teh effect of nutrition factors on miRNA and gene expression in the immune response of mesenteric lymph in piglets during the weaning period (Project Heads Brockmann, Gudrun ;  Schmidt, Michael F.G. )
• B04 - Role of intestinal luminal factors such as zinc and microbiota on regulating microRNAs and profiling of the downstream pathways (Project Heads Einspanier, Ralf ;  Gabler, Christoph ;  Sharbati, Soroush )
• B05 - Bioavailability of zinc and other trace elements and their impact on genomic stability (Project Head Hartwig, Andrea )
• B08 - Effects of nutritional supplements on the procine innate immune response to intestinal pathogens - infection models (Project Head Tedin, Ph.D., Karsten )
• C01 - Central administration and management (Project Head Zentek, Jürgen )
• C02 - Central technique and bioinformatic toolbox (Project Heads Einspanier, Ralf ;  Plendl, Johanna ;  Wrede, Paul )
• C03 - Central nutrition project (Project Heads Martus, Peter ;  Zentek, Jürgen )
• MGK - Integrated Research Training Group "Biology of Nutrition" (Project Head Plendl, Johanna )

• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Participating University: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Technische Universität Berlin
• Participating Institution: Deutsches Institut für Ernährungsforschung Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE); Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) ; Abteilung 4: Biologische Sicherheit ; Fachgruppe Diagnostik, Genetik und Erregercharakterisierung; Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie (MPI-MP)
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Jürgen Zentek