1a.Objectives (from AD-416)
The purpose of this agreement between ARS and TEAGASC is to strengthen the collaborations as appropriate in areas of mutual interest within the broad scope of crop and animal production and protection, food safety, nutrition, agricultural utilization and bioenergy, and natural resources and sustainable agriculture through cooperative research programs and exchanges.

1b.Approach (from AD-416)
The Participants intend to encourage and facilitate direct contacts among appropriate institutions and specialists and work toward long-term cooperation in agricultural research and development programs. Individual projects may be developed between the Participants which outline specific research projects. Agricultural research areas may be undertaken as mutually determined by the Participants. To facilitate the cooperative research effort(s) described, ARS and TEAGASC intends to assign such members of its staff to specific projects as may be mutually determined, as well as aid in planning and developing projects of mutual interest.

3.Progress Report

ARS-ERRC collaborations with TEAGASC continue to be strong and fruitful. Collaboration through a Framework 6 project, “Pathogenic E. coli Network” provided an opportunity for ARS-ERRC to assist in the design of experiments, analyses of isolates, and dissemination of data. ARS-ERRC also works with Teagasc through the ProSafeBeef project to enhance the quality and safety of beef through development of detection and intervention strategies. ARS also works through a grant with Teagasc whereby a graduate student worked in the ARS lab for one year to develop a new method for detection of anthelmintic drug residues in milk and meat. These continuing collaborations led to two manuscripts on the improved analysis and method validation of anthelmintic drug residues in bovine milk and liver matrices. Additional cooperation focused on the development of genetic-based typing methods for E. coli. Collaboration between ARS-ERRC, researchers at the Teagasc- Ashtown Food Research Centre and the University College Dublin in Dublin also focused on the development of genetic-based typing methods for E. coli. ARS researchers in Wyndmoor, PA and scientists in Ireland publish collaborative research in scientific journals. A collaborative effort between ARS-BARC with Teagasc-Meath focuses on transferring the Bovine Gene Atlas tag dataset (gene expression database for cattle) with gene map information to TEAGASC and test functionality of the integration of InnateDB (a database storing gene interaction information for hypothesis building) with this extensive gene expression dataset. ARS provides annotation expertise for this project. A second collaborative effort with University College Dublin and Trinity College, Dublin is underway to produce a genome assembly of Aurochs, a pre-domesticated version of cattle. The ARS portion is led through this project. ARS provides bioinformatic and sequencing expertise and “next generation” DNA sequencing equipment for this project.