Aerobiome based genomic surveillance of fungicide resistance to track the development and spread of AMR in plant pathogens and the wider environment

抗生素耐药性（AMR）是对全球健康的一个日益严重的威胁，农业中抗生素的过度使用是其发展的主要原因。特别是，植物病原真菌对食品安全和质量构成了重大问题，由于更严格的法规，可用的杀菌剂越来越少，AMR发展的风险正在增加。目前的监测方法既缓慢又费力。该项目旨在开发一种新的方法，结合从空气中采样真菌孢子的最新技术进步和高通量长读牛津纳米孔技术（ONT）测序，以跟踪AMR在谷类作物和更广泛环境的真菌病原体中的发展和传播，其中包括机会主义人类病原体烟曲霉，其孢子广泛存在于我们呼吸的空气中。从空气中检测真菌物种和检测杀菌剂抗性等位基因的这种新方法将与基于实验室的常规杀菌剂抗性测试的真菌分离自自然感染的植物采样从相同的位置作为空气进行验证。在生长季节开始时对AMR的状况进行早期采样和诊断，将导致基于选择和最佳最小使用杀真菌剂投入作为IPM的一部分的更好的谷物疾病管理实践，并降低植物病原体中AMR进一步发展的风险。最终，该项目将有助于保障我们的粮食供应，同时改善人类健康和维持环境中的生物多样性。

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to global health, and the excessive use of antimicrobials in agriculture is a major contributor to its development. In particular, plant pathogenic fungi pose a significant problem for food safety and quality, and with fewer fungicides available due to stricter regulations, the risk of AMR development is increasing. Current surveillance methods are slow and laborious. This project aims to develop a new approach combining the latest technological advances in sampling fungal spores from air and high-throughput long-read Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) sequencing to track the development and spread of AMR in fungal pathogens of cereal crops and the wider environment, which includes the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus whose spores are widespread in the air we breathe. This new approach for the detection of fungal species from air and detection of the fungicide resistance alleles will be validated with the laboratory based conventional fungicide resistance tests of the fungi isolated from naturally infected plants sampled from the same locations as the air. Early season sampling and diagnosis of the status of AMR at the start of the growing season, will lead to improved better cereal disease management practices based on choice and optimal minimal use of fungicide inputs as part of IPM and reduce the risk for further AMR development in plant pathogens. Ultimately, this project will help to safeguard our food supply while improving human health and sustaining biodiversity in the environment.