ARBUATEM · Antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes, associated with urban agriculture in Low and Middle Income Countries: Ecological and medical perspectives

About 20 million hectares of arable lands are irrigated with wastewaters in the world and almost nothing is known about the presence, evolution and dissemination of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in these fields, and their possible transmission to humans and animals via the food chain. The proposed project will address that scientific question by using analytical chemistry, flow cytometry, molecular biology, metagenomic approaches, and computational biology, in order to characterise antibiotic resistant bacterial community structures and antibiotic resistance genes in untreated wastewaters and the corresponding irrigated agricultural sites compared to control sites in low and middle income countries, as well as the influence of abiotic factors. The new scientific data arising from this project will help to determine the factors that drive resistance and can be minimized by developing strategies to prevent further spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes worldwide. The fellow, with a strong background in Microbial ecology and Biochemistry, will conduct this project under the supervision of Prof Piddock, a medical microbiologist and expert in antibiotic resistance, at the University of Birmingham.