Location: Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research
Project Number: 5030-31320-004-029-R
Project Type: Reimbursable Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 15, 2018
End Date: Dec 1, 2019
Objective:
Our objective is to evaluate whether antibiotic and non-antibiotic (heavy metals) dietary additives cause shifts in antibiotic resistance genes and their mobility in Gram-negative bacteria in the swine gut.
Approach:
Our approach is to leverage DNA that has already been isolated from samples previously collected in association with a swine feeding trial to investigate antibiotic alternatives. We plan to employ high-throughput sequencing to deeply sequence the metagenome of all of the Gram-negative bacteria cultured in association with a swine feed trial. DNA from samples from the following three treatment groups will be sequenced: unamended feed, chlortetracycline and denegard (antibiotics), or zinc and copper (heavy metals). Use of this approach will define and compare the impact of diet on the chromosomal and plasmid-borne antibiotic resistance genes being carried by the Gram-negative bacteria of swine.
