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PHAGE-MEDIATED BIOLUMINESCENT DETECTION OF YERSINIA PESTIS

Award Number: R44AI082698
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/12/2009
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2013

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PHAGE-MEDIATED BIOLUMINESCENT DETECTION OF YERSINIA PESTIS - DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Yersinia pestis is designated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and NIAID as a Category A bacterial pathogen. Y. pestis is the etiological agent of the plague (Black Death), a transmissible disease that has been responsible for millions of deaths throughout the course of history. Although the natural occurrence of this disease is now relatively rare, the possibility of terrorist groups using Y. pestis as a bioweapon is real. Because of the disease's inherent communicability, rapid clinical course, and high mortality, it is critical that an outbreak be detected quickly. Therefore methodologies that provide rapid detection and diagnosis are essential to ensure immediate implementation of public health measures and activation of crisis management. The long-term goal and commercial application of this proposal is to develop a plague diagnostic detection kit. The Phase I research successfully completed the proof of principle study and generated a recombinant luxAB ('light')-tagged reporter phage for the detection of Y. pestis. Y. pestis specific phage are currently used by the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) as a diagnostic standard for the confirmed identification of Y. pestis; however, the phage lysis assays are laboratory based and require 2 to 3 days to complete. In contrast, the technology described in this proposal does not require sample processing, a laboratory environment, or extensive incubation periods. The Phase I results demonstrated that the luxAB reporter phage rapidly conferred a bioluminescent signal response to an attenuated Y. pestis strain and displayed potential as a plague diagnostic. The Phase II research will build upon the Phase I foundation with the goal of generating a plague diagnostic kit. The Phase II research will: (i) increase the specificity and sensitivity of the reporter phage for Y. pestis (Aim 1); (ii) demonstrate the utility of the reporter phage against a library of wild-type Y. pestis strains (Aim 2); (iii) analyze the specificity of the reporter phage for Y. pestis using a panel of pathogenic non-pestis Yersinia species (Aim 3), and (iv) analyze and optimize the ability of the detection system to function directly with clinical specimens (Aim 4). Collectively, this research will provide the foundation for a plague diagnostic kit using novel 'light producing' reporter phage that rapidly, sensitively, and specifically confer a bioluminescent phenotype to Y. pestis. The vision of the product is that it can be used as a diagnostic for suspected plague-infected patients with cultivated isolates or directly with infected clinical specimens in a laboratory setting or as a portable camera-based assay. The long-term goal of our research is to develop a reporter phage-based multiplex assay for the identification of different bacterial priority A pathogens. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This proposal is significant because it will generate a rapid plague diagnostic test kit. A rapid diagnostic test kit is essential in order to specifically diagnose the disease, prevent the spread of the disease, and to save lives.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2012 ( Subtotal = $309,253 )
2012	2012	GUILD ASSOCIATES INC	5750 SHIER RINGS	DUBLIN	OH	43016	FRANKLIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	3	2/29/2012	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$309,253
														Subtotal = $309,253

Issue Date FY: 2011 ( Subtotal = $395,287 )
2011	2011	GUILD ASSOCIATES INC	5750 SHIER RINGS	DUBLIN	OH	43016	FRANKLIN	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	2	3/7/2011	COMPETING CONTINUATION	$395,287
														Subtotal = $395,287

Grand Total All Awards = $704,540

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PHAGE-MEDIATED BIOLUMINESCENT DETECTION OF YERSINIA PESTIS

Award Number: R44AI082698

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/12/2009

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2013

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