FORESTRY BYPRODUCTS AS NOVEL THERAPEUTICS FOR PARASITE CONTROL IN LIVESTOCK
Lead Research Organisation:
University of St Andrews
Department Name: Chemistry
Abstract
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Technical Summary
Plant secondary metabolites (PSM) include compounds with reported anthelmintic properties. To date, incorporation of PSM for parasite control has been hampered by variation in PSM content in tree-bark extracts, which results in variation in biological activity and thus inconsistency of effect. In this project, we will develop a workflow to address the limitation of irreproducible extract formation that has held back this approach to date. To achieve this, we will deliver a bark extract evaluation system that can usefully predict the biological activity of UK bark extracts for inclusion in parasite control strategies. Once complete, this will allow the creation of a realistic strategy to develop an integrated biorefinery based on the use of bark that can be applied on an industrial scale and so drive parasite control in livestock.
Compounds present in bark extracts that demonstrate anthelmintic activity will be identified and isolated. Four different strategies will be used to identify compounds: (i) compound identification through use of existing preliminary data; (ii) compound identification via a detailed literature review; (iii) compound identification from UK bark extracts via high resolution MS profiling targeted MS/MS analysis and association with biological activity and (iv) bioactivity guided compound isolation from "the most active UK bark extract". The implementation of this multi-dimensional research approach mitigates the risk of single-strategy-failure, as it is built on preliminary data and uses methods familiar to us to generate knowledge on active compounds in plant extracts. Central to this work is the ability to test the biological activity of all the identified compounds with two anthelmintic assays. Quantification of the biological activity of individual compounds and association of abundance of compounds with biological activity, will be used to create the bark Activity Index as a predictor of the anthelmintic activity of crude bark extracts.
Compounds present in bark extracts that demonstrate anthelmintic activity will be identified and isolated. Four different strategies will be used to identify compounds: (i) compound identification through use of existing preliminary data; (ii) compound identification via a detailed literature review; (iii) compound identification from UK bark extracts via high resolution MS profiling targeted MS/MS analysis and association with biological activity and (iv) bioactivity guided compound isolation from "the most active UK bark extract". The implementation of this multi-dimensional research approach mitigates the risk of single-strategy-failure, as it is built on preliminary data and uses methods familiar to us to generate knowledge on active compounds in plant extracts. Central to this work is the ability to test the biological activity of all the identified compounds with two anthelmintic assays. Quantification of the biological activity of individual compounds and association of abundance of compounds with biological activity, will be used to create the bark Activity Index as a predictor of the anthelmintic activity of crude bark extracts.
Organisations
- University of St Andrews (Lead Research Organisation)
- Dept for Env Food & Rural Affairs DEFRA (Co-funder)
- SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT (Co-funder)
- Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) (Co-funder)
- Biorenewables Development Centre (Collaboration)
- The Soil Association (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS) (Collaboration)
- Scottish Forestry (Collaboration)
- Scotland's Rural College (Collaboration)
| Description | BBSRC partner collaboration |
| Organisation | Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The academic teams, which comprises of all the research organisations named above, have been working on identifying bioactive compounds in bark extracts that can help with parasite control in order to mitigate the issue of anthelmintic resistance in livestock. This project has attracted a lot of industry involvement as seen in the list above. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The industry partners have committed time and resources to facilitate our research. This team of collaborators bring in the consortium the inside knowledge on industry priorities, bottleneck and challenges. To date they have helped with sample identification sites and collection, expert knowledge to feed in to our value chain analysis and dissemination of our activities. Their role is invaluable. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary. On the academic side, it combines expertise in animal health (parasitology), chemistry (bark characterisation and extraction, NMR and MS) and statistics. On the industry side it involves animal feed companies, livestock co-ops and other organisations and timber and forestry industries. It has already generated various outputs such as: Trade articles Generated interest from international companies Interactions with saw mills around the UK Invitation to conferences. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | BBSRC partner collaboration |
| Organisation | Biorenewables Development Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The academic teams, which comprises of all the research organisations named above, have been working on identifying bioactive compounds in bark extracts that can help with parasite control in order to mitigate the issue of anthelmintic resistance in livestock. This project has attracted a lot of industry involvement as seen in the list above. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The industry partners have committed time and resources to facilitate our research. This team of collaborators bring in the consortium the inside knowledge on industry priorities, bottleneck and challenges. To date they have helped with sample identification sites and collection, expert knowledge to feed in to our value chain analysis and dissemination of our activities. Their role is invaluable. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary. On the academic side, it combines expertise in animal health (parasitology), chemistry (bark characterisation and extraction, NMR and MS) and statistics. On the industry side it involves animal feed companies, livestock co-ops and other organisations and timber and forestry industries. It has already generated various outputs such as: Trade articles Generated interest from international companies Interactions with saw mills around the UK Invitation to conferences. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | BBSRC partner collaboration |
| Organisation | Scotland's Rural College |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The academic teams, which comprises of all the research organisations named above, have been working on identifying bioactive compounds in bark extracts that can help with parasite control in order to mitigate the issue of anthelmintic resistance in livestock. This project has attracted a lot of industry involvement as seen in the list above. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The industry partners have committed time and resources to facilitate our research. This team of collaborators bring in the consortium the inside knowledge on industry priorities, bottleneck and challenges. To date they have helped with sample identification sites and collection, expert knowledge to feed in to our value chain analysis and dissemination of our activities. Their role is invaluable. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary. On the academic side, it combines expertise in animal health (parasitology), chemistry (bark characterisation and extraction, NMR and MS) and statistics. On the industry side it involves animal feed companies, livestock co-ops and other organisations and timber and forestry industries. It has already generated various outputs such as: Trade articles Generated interest from international companies Interactions with saw mills around the UK Invitation to conferences. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | BBSRC partner collaboration |
| Organisation | Scottish Forestry |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | The academic teams, which comprises of all the research organisations named above, have been working on identifying bioactive compounds in bark extracts that can help with parasite control in order to mitigate the issue of anthelmintic resistance in livestock. This project has attracted a lot of industry involvement as seen in the list above. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The industry partners have committed time and resources to facilitate our research. This team of collaborators bring in the consortium the inside knowledge on industry priorities, bottleneck and challenges. To date they have helped with sample identification sites and collection, expert knowledge to feed in to our value chain analysis and dissemination of our activities. Their role is invaluable. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary. On the academic side, it combines expertise in animal health (parasitology), chemistry (bark characterisation and extraction, NMR and MS) and statistics. On the industry side it involves animal feed companies, livestock co-ops and other organisations and timber and forestry industries. It has already generated various outputs such as: Trade articles Generated interest from international companies Interactions with saw mills around the UK Invitation to conferences. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | BBSRC partner collaboration |
| Organisation | The Soil Association |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Learned Society |
| PI Contribution | The academic teams, which comprises of all the research organisations named above, have been working on identifying bioactive compounds in bark extracts that can help with parasite control in order to mitigate the issue of anthelmintic resistance in livestock. This project has attracted a lot of industry involvement as seen in the list above. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The industry partners have committed time and resources to facilitate our research. This team of collaborators bring in the consortium the inside knowledge on industry priorities, bottleneck and challenges. To date they have helped with sample identification sites and collection, expert knowledge to feed in to our value chain analysis and dissemination of our activities. Their role is invaluable. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary. On the academic side, it combines expertise in animal health (parasitology), chemistry (bark characterisation and extraction, NMR and MS) and statistics. On the industry side it involves animal feed companies, livestock co-ops and other organisations and timber and forestry industries. It has already generated various outputs such as: Trade articles Generated interest from international companies Interactions with saw mills around the UK Invitation to conferences. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | BBSRC partner collaboration |
| Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
| Department | School of Chemistry |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The academic teams, which comprises of all the research organisations named above, have been working on identifying bioactive compounds in bark extracts that can help with parasite control in order to mitigate the issue of anthelmintic resistance in livestock. This project has attracted a lot of industry involvement as seen in the list above. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The industry partners have committed time and resources to facilitate our research. This team of collaborators bring in the consortium the inside knowledge on industry priorities, bottleneck and challenges. To date they have helped with sample identification sites and collection, expert knowledge to feed in to our value chain analysis and dissemination of our activities. Their role is invaluable. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary. On the academic side, it combines expertise in animal health (parasitology), chemistry (bark characterisation and extraction, NMR and MS) and statistics. On the industry side it involves animal feed companies, livestock co-ops and other organisations and timber and forestry industries. It has already generated various outputs such as: Trade articles Generated interest from international companies Interactions with saw mills around the UK Invitation to conferences. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Annual Industry engagement event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Annual project meeting with industry partners presenting and attending at the meeting |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Article for trade press |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou (PI) with William Clark of the Scottish Forestry have written an article on the Scotland's Forest Bioeconomy including details of our project. This piece will feature in the newsletter produced by ASHS (The Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers) https://www.ashs.co.uk/ Publication ID 66d5cd94aa2741.48282207 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.ashs.co.uk/ |
| Description | Conference presentation Invited |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou (representing the project) was invited to give a presentation at the Nutrition Society Congress on: Bioactive plants: the case of polyphenol rich plants for parasite control in ruminants Publication ID 66859415572312.84187926 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.nutritionsociety.org/sites/default/files/ProgrammeBooklet_Nutrition%20Congress%202024%28... |
| Description | Industry engagement with Melcourt Industries |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou had Teams meeting (after discussion with project team) with the senior associate Catherine Dawson from Melcourt Industries Ltd to identify future research opportunities. They are very keen in alternative use of bark for parasite control |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Meeting Reps from Scottish Forestry |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou had meeting with William Clark from Scottish Forestry (after discussions with project team) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Nick Cotter from Cotter Agritech |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou had meeting with Nick Cotter an organic farmer form Ireland and owner of Cotter Agritech (https://www.cotteragritech.com/) to discuss alternatives to anthelmintics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.cotteragritech.com/ |
| Description | Presentation to Stakeholders from Young Scot Farmer Club |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou (as representative of the project) gave a presentation on the use of alternative strategies to parasite control in livestock to 20 delegates from the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Club Agri & Rural Conference, November 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation to animal feed company Silvateam (based in Italy) on nutritional alternatives to parasites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou (representing the project) had a discussion with the technical team of Silvateam, the company that commercialising tannin extracts to identify opportunities for stakeholder engagement. Led to research work in Westwood lab connected to this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Stakeholder event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou gave presentation to the Scottish Forest & Timber Technologies (SFTT) Industry Leadership Group (ILG) on behalf of project team on the use of bark for parasite control in livestock. It was organised by the Scottish Forest and Timber Technologies group. The objective of the group is to identify ways in which the forest industry in Scotland can boost sectoral growth and the economy as a whole, in a way that is aligned with Scotland's Economic Strategy. It seeks to do this through constructive dialogue and the provision of opportunities to discuss the industry's needs and to identify opportunities where support and input from government can add value. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://forestryscotland.com/south-scotland-regional-meeting-5th-march-2025/ |
| Description | Talk to Dutch animal feed company ORFFA for their ruminant feed supplements |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou (representing the project) gave a presentation of our work on polyphenol rich alternatives to parasite control to industry stakeholders. Led to research work on Westwood lab connected to this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Visit and presentation to Scottish Wood on possible uses of their by products (bark) as alternative parasite control strategies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | A visit to a Scottish Sawmill organised by Scottish Forestry. We have been asked to produce a trade article for a magazine that reaches out to all small and medium saw millers in Scotland. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Workgroup member in new COST action on MedPlans4Vets the use of medicinal plants for disease control |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Spiridoula Athanasiadou (representing the prohect) participated in activities organised in this COST action |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |