Development of strategies to mitigate antibiotic resistance in swine

农业和农业食品部门为加拿大经济贡献了1119亿美元，在全国各地雇用了230万人。加拿大是全球第三大猪肉出口国，2017年猪肉出口778,663吨，收入26亿加元。加拿大农业食品部门的粮食安全，包括养猪，是加拿大的主要可持续目标。猪就像所有的生物一样，不断地与微生物互动。虽然这些相互作用大多是中性的或对动物有益，但某些病原微生物可导致严重疾病，给该行业带来重大经济损失。集约化耕作方法往往会创造一个有利于感染的环境。在他们被发现后不久，抗生素开始被用来将传染病造成的动物损失降到最低。抗生素使提高生产力和改善动物福利成为可能。然而，几十年来，在人类活动的大多数领域，包括农业部门，对抗生素具有抗药性的细菌菌株一直在增加。由于对猪肉的需求预计将增加，以支持不断增长的人口，因此至关重要的是找到可持续的方法来减轻病原体的影响，而不会因增加对抗生素的耐药性而付出经济和生态成本。这项研究计划的长期目标是减轻猪对抗生素耐药性的影响。在接下来的五年里，该研究将采取以下几个步骤来实现这一目标：(1)确定参与猪肠道微生物区系中抗生素耐药基因繁殖的微生物，希望开发有针对性的方法来减少病原体。(2)通过优化益生菌，使其对猪胃肠道的恶劣条件具有更强的抵抗力，降低感染风险和抗生素耐药性。(3)寻找能够利用粪便中的抗生素残留作为碳源的细菌，并表征这一生物修复过程中涉及的分子机制。为了实现拟议的目标，我们将使用结合经典微生物学、生物信息学和动物科学的原创性和整体性方法。这项研究计划的创新之处在于，它将解决影响猪的抗菌素耐药性的三个独立但互补的问题。这三个目标预计将提供协同效应，以减少抗生素耐药性。这项研究计划将增进我们在农业中的微生物学基础知识，促进开发减轻养猪场抗生素耐药性的具体解决方案，并培养高素质的各级人员。

The agriculture and agri-food sector contributes over $111.9 billion to the Canadian economy and employs 2.3 million people across the country. Canada is the third largest exporter of pork worldwide, with 778,663 tons in 2017 and $2.6 billion CAD income. Food security for the Canadian agri-food sector, including pig rearing, is a primary sustainability goal for Canada. Pigs, like all living things, constantly interact with microorganisms. Though most of these interactions are neutral or beneficial to animals, certain pathogenic microorganisms can cause serious diseases, leading to significant economic losses to the industry. Intensive farming methods tend to create an environment conducive to infections. Soon after their discovery, antibiotics began to be used to minimize animal losses caused by infectious bacterial diseases. Antibiotics have made it possible to increase productivity and to improve animal welfare. However, for several decades, there has been an increase in bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics in most spheres of human activity, including in the agricultural sector. As the demand for pork is expected to increase to support the growing population, it is essential to find sustainable means to mitigate the impact of pathogens without the economic and ecological costs of increasing resistance to antibiotics. The long-term goal of this research program is to mitigate the impact of antibiotic resistance in pigs. For the next five years, the research will take the following steps toward the goal: (1) Determine the microbial players involved in the propagation of antibiotic resistance genes in the porcine gut microbiota, with the hope to develop targeted methods to reduce pathogens. (2) Mitigate infection risk and antibiotic resistance by optimizing probiotic bacteria to make them more resistant to the hostile conditions of the gastrointestinal tract of pigs. (3) Find bacteria that can use antibiotic residues in manure as a carbon source, and characterize the molecular mechanisms involved in this bioremediation process. To achieve the proposed objectives, we will use an original and holistic approach that combines classical microbiology, bioinformatics, and animal sciences. The innovative aspect of this research program is that it will tackle three independent, but complementary, issues that influence antimicrobial resistance in pigs. The three objectives are expected to offer a synergistic effect to reduce antibiotic resistance. This research program will advance our fundamental knowledge of microbiology in agriculture, foster the development of concrete solutions for mitigating antibiotic resistance in pig farms, and train highly qualified personnel at various levels.