I-Corps: Producing antimicrobial peptides to replace antibiotics in animal feed

本项目计划研究开发用于生产目的的动物饲料添加剂的抗菌肽的潜力。目前的做法通常使用用于人类治疗的抗菌剂作为动物饲料的添加剂，这可能导致耐药性细菌菌株。本项目中研究的抗菌肽显示出减少家禽中细菌计数的迹象，但不用于医疗目的。该项目将使用丝状真菌发酵生产抗菌肽。抗生素已被用作动物食品中的添加剂，以帮助降低家禽中的细菌水平，并可能减少食用家禽的人类的食源性疾病。美国食品和药物管理局发布的新指南限制了动物饲料中抗生素的使用，因为它与越来越多的耐药性细菌菌株有关。利用丝状真菌发酵开发抗菌肽可能是解决这一问题的另一种方法。如果成功开发，这些抗菌肽将有助于降低家禽中的细菌水平，以减少食源性疾病，同时不会产生抗药性菌株。

This project plans to investigate the potential of developing antimicrobial peptides for addition to animal feed for production purposes. Current practices commonly use antimicrobials that are used therapeutically with humans as additives to animal feed, which can result in antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. The antimicrobial peptides investigated in this project show signs of reducing bacterial counts in poultry, but are not used for medical purposes. Antimicrobial peptides will be produced for this project using filamentous fungal fermentation.Antibiotics have been used as additives in animal food as an effort to help reduce bacterial levels in poultry and potentially reduce food-borne illness in humans consuming poultry. New guidance published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has restricted administration of antibiotics in animal feed as it has been linked to increasing strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The development of antimicrobial peptides using filamentous fungal fermentation may be an alternative solution to this concern. If successfully developed these antimicrobial peptides will assist in reducing bacterial levels in poultry to reduce food-borne illnesses while not generating antibiotic-resistant strains.