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Chapter 6<br />

6.11. Further research<br />

This research has highlighted many areas that would benefit from further<br />

investigation. It would have been <strong>of</strong> interest to investigate other areas<br />

surrounding this project such as the bi<strong>of</strong>ilm density <strong>of</strong> more S. enterica<br />

strains involved in food-borne outbreaks and sequenced strains.<br />

Additionally, it may have been <strong>of</strong> interest to investigate Salmonella<br />

competition and survival in the presence <strong>of</strong> other bacterial strains<br />

associated with food processing environments such as Pseudomonas [70].<br />

However the major constraint <strong>of</strong> the CBR method is the limitation <strong>of</strong> 1<br />

strain per experiment which may last for the duration <strong>of</strong> 1-2 weeks,<br />

depending on conditions. Moreover, in order to confirm repeatability and<br />

validate findings it is best practice that the results are reproduced on a<br />

number or repeated experiments which also adds to the length <strong>of</strong> time<br />

needed to attain results. The cost associated with the use <strong>of</strong> multiple<br />

reactors and the labour intensive method also limits the number <strong>of</strong><br />

reactors that can be maintained simultaneously.<br />

Furthermore, a second area <strong>of</strong> interest would be to perform a complete<br />

genomic analysis <strong>of</strong> the Salmonella strains <strong>of</strong> interest. As discussed in<br />

chapter 1, there are a number <strong>of</strong> key genomic cues involved in Salmonella<br />

bi<strong>of</strong>ilm development. This has been studied and reviewed to a great extent<br />

elsewhere [28]. However, similar to what has been reported in this<br />

research, relating to bi<strong>of</strong>ilm substrata and reactor models, the majority <strong>of</strong><br />

the research has been performed on a limited number <strong>of</strong> strains, serovars<br />

or using a basic microtitre plate model. While the microtitre based model<br />

has advantages <strong>of</strong> high-throughput assessment <strong>of</strong> a large number <strong>of</strong> strains<br />

simultaneously, it has clearly been demonstrated in this thesis that surface<br />

substrata and bi<strong>of</strong>ilm conditions such as duration <strong>of</strong> bi<strong>of</strong>ilm development<br />

can have a major impact on bi<strong>of</strong>ilm density. Ideally, if there were no<br />

limitations on time and cost, a full genomic analysis through microarray<br />

Page 218

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