Dr. Eleni Tsiplakou’s scientific interest mainly focused on ruminants’ (goats/sheep/cows) experimental design and implementation. In these studies, she investigates the effect of dietary supplementation of various beneficial biomolecules, which are included in microalgae, olive tree leaves, wine pomace, marine oils, oilseeds, etc., on animal performance and dairy products quality (milk and meat), by enriching them with molecules for a human health point of view (functional foods).
In addition, she studies the effect of essential oils, amino acids, and phenolic compounds on the expression of genes which regulate liposynthesis (in various tissues), immune system (in monocytes and neutrophils) and antioxidant system towards promoting animal health and welfare in order to minimize the antibiotics usage. Through, these attempts, the aim is to improve milk oxidative status which extends the product shelf life.
Dr. Eleni Tsiplakou takes advantage of the new era of molecular biology (Next-Generation Sequencing) and driven by modern agricultural challenges such as food crisis and climate change, by focusing on rumen microbiome as a tool to: mitigate methane emissions, improve feed efficiency, and unlock the understanding of this complex habitat.
For the aforementioned purposes, her team uses modern techniques such as: a) Gas Chromatography for the determination of fatty acids in different kind of samples (milk, blood, cheese, yogurt, liver, adipose tissue, muscle tissue, feedstuffs, oils, microalgae, plants, etc.), b) molecular techniques for RNA isolation from various tissues (udder cells, adipose tissues, liver, monocytes, neutrophils etc.), c) molecular techniques for DNA extraction from rumen content (liquid and solids) for RT-qPCR and Next-Generation Sequencing (Ion Torrent and Illumina), and d) spectrophotometry methods for the determination of antioxidant enzymes activities in blood and milk, and rumen digestive enzymes activities.
Further to the above methods, Dr. Eleni Tsiplakou is interested about mycotoxins determination and other toxic compounds such as pesticides in feedstuffs, feces, liver, muscle tissue and milk using liquid mass chromatography (LC-MS/MS) and the development of in vitro methods for the mycotoxins’ adsorption and desorption by mycotoxins binders.
