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

该项目计划研究开发用于动物饲料生产的抗菌肽的潜力。目前的做法通常使用人类治疗用的抗菌素作为动物饲料的添加剂，这可能导致耐抗生素细菌菌株。本项目研究的抗菌肽显示出减少家禽细菌计数的迹象，但不用于医疗目的。抗菌肽将用于该项目使用丝状真菌发酵生产。抗生素已被用作动物性食品中的添加剂，以帮助减少家禽中的细菌水平，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，因为抗生素与不断增加的耐抗生素细菌菌株有关。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。如果开发成功，这些抗菌肽将有助于降低家禽中的细菌水平，减少食源性疾病，同时不会产生耐抗生素菌株。

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.