Funding tool: Basic research projects
Project-ID: FTI24-G-015
Project start: 01. Mai 2025
Project end: 30. April 2028
Runtime: 36 months / not yet started
Funding amount: € 360.000,00

Brief summary:
Global warming is a serious concern in dairy farming because resulting heat stress affects animal health and welfare and is a major cause of low productivity. New insights into resilience mechanisms in the reproductive tract and heat stress biomarker provide the basis for developing preventive measures against heat stress and its sequelae. Information on associations between heat stress exposure and pathophysiological mechanisms in the reproductive tract is largely missing, in particular under central European heat stress conditions. The project is structured into three workpackages (WP) with the aims to • Investigate the in vivo effects of heat stress on the uterine environment and to identify the heat stress biomarker signature in the milk under climatic conditions typical for Lower Austria (WP1) • Investigate the in vitro effects of differential heat exposure conditions on the immune response of bovine endometrial epithelial cells co-cultivated with pathogenic and commensal bacteria (WP2) • Develop a green and easy-to-implement analytical workflow for heat stress monitoring and a predictive model for its early detection in dairy cows (WP3) The project combines innovative microbiological, molecular, and bioanalytical methods with profound information on the clinical phenotype of cows and sensor data. The project profits from a new cooperation and an interdisciplinary team with team members in different career stages . The integrated analysis of data from individual animals and their environments will open new avenues for the prevention of diseases, for improving animal welfare and farm economics. Our proposed holistic approach follows the overall goal of maintaining resource-efficient and sustainable agriculture, which is an actual topic with socio-economic relevance. Thus, our study will help to support Lower Austrian Farmers to fulfil their mission of supplying the domestic population with healthy and high-quality food in a resource-efficient manner

Keywords:
Hitzestress, Hitzestress Biomarker-Signatur, Resilienzmechanismen, Boviner Reproduktionstrakt, Entzündungen und Infektionen der Gebärmutter, ressourceneffiziente Landwirtschaft, Gesunderhaltung der Milchkühe