(Meta)genomics of bacteria and antimicrobial resistance from different food production systems

There are many food production systems, such as organic and free-range, which variously include practices to improve animal welfare and reduce or avoid the use of artificial fertilisers, pesticides and antibiotics. Food produced by these non-conventional methods is often more expensive and is claimed to be healthier for people and the planet, although evidence for this is often contradictory. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a variety of factors including greater awareness of environmental and health issues and increased consumption of meals at home has contributed to the biggest year-on-year increase in organic sales in 15 years.

The project will utilise comprehensive microbiological and (meta)genomic approaches to understand the microbial pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden, and thus the food safety of foods produced through organic, free-range and conventional systems, and will include both wet lab and dry lab components, including study design, culture-based microbiology and both short-read and long-read genome and metagenome sequencing.