Dissertation project - Health relevance of Vibrio cholerae in bathing waters

• Project number: SC19-006
• Project Management: Alexander Kirschner, Karl Landsteiner Private University for Health Sciences / Department of Water Quality and Health
• Project duration: 36 months from 1 April 2020

Background

Vibrio cholerae is a natural inhabitant of water bodies and the causative agent of cholera. Cholera is caused by toxigenic strains of serogroups O1 and O139, non-toxigenic strains (NTVC) can cause a variety of other infections with potentially fatal outcomes. Due to climate change, there has been an increase in NTVC infections in Europe over the last 20 years. In Lower Austria, two extremely severe cases (one of them fatal) occurred for the first time in 2015, which were associated with bathing activities during an extreme summer heat. So far, the key factors for the occurrence of NTVC in inland bathing waters are not sufficiently known. This information and the existence of reliable methods for determining NVTVC are prerequisites for predictive models and early warning systems for NVTVC. In addition to cultivation methods, molecular biological and cell-based methods have also been developed. So far, the combination of specific fluorescent labelling and solid phase cytometry has proven to be the best method.
However, this method is not able to distinguish V. cholerae from closely related species and is extremely time-consuming and expensive. In this project, therefore, a method based on alternative recognition molecules -APTAMER- is being developed. Aptamers are short oligonucleotides that bind their target molecules with high selectivity and affinity. They have been shown to be antibody equivalents in many applications. Once an aptamer is identified, it can be produced in unlimited quantities and at low cost. So far, however, there are no aptamers for V. cholerae.
Two main goals are to be achieved. First, to comprehensively document the abundance of V.cholerae in representative bathing waters, taking into account ecological, temporal and spatial gradients, and second, to develop a new innovative aptamer-based method for improved quantification of V.cholerae.
Predictive models for the spread of NTVC in bathing waters will be developed as a tool for risk assessment, as well as simple protocols for cultivation-independent quantification of V.cholerae. In this way, the project will contribute to better prevention and protection of public health from NTVC in bathing waters and toxic V.cholerae in water resources. The aptamer products, applications and intellectual property generated will be exploited beyond the project in translational follow-on projects, spin-off companies or through contracting with local third-party companies. The project makes a direct contribution to the research focus "Intelligent Indication Systems and Diagnostics" as part of the current RTI strategy for Lower Austria. The sustainable cooperation between the project partners within the framework of the Inter-University Cooperation Centre Water & Health will be strengthened. The project is thus expected to bring sustainable benefits for the province of Lower Austria on several levels.