**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE (AMR) IS A SERIOUS PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT. WITH CHICKENS RECOGNIZED AS A RESERVOIR OF AMR BACTERIA, POULTRY PRODUCTS REPRESENT A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF THESE MICROORGANISMS, INCLUDING AMR SALMONELLA. BACTERIA HAVE THE ABILITY TO SHARE GENETIC INFORMATION CRITICAL FOR THEIR SURVIVAL, THEREBY RESULTING IN THE POTENTIAL SPREAD OF AMR DETERMINANTS IN DIVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL NICHES, INCLUDING ANIMAL GUT. HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER (HGT) REPRESENTS THE MAJOR ROUTE FOR AMR SPREAD AMONGST BACTERIA, WITH BACTERIAL CONJUGATION CONSTITUTING A COMMON MEANS FOR DISSEMINATION OF AR GENES IN BACTERIA. THEREFORE, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED FOR MITIGATING AMR GENE SPREAD BYMULTIDRUG RESISTANT FOODBORNE PATHOGENS IN COMMERCIAL BROILER PRODUCTION SYSTEM, THEREBY ENHANCINGFOOD SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDING PUBLIC HEALTH. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSAL ARE TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF IN-FEED SUPPLEMENTATION OF SELECT PHYTOCHEMICALS (1) IN REDUCING THE HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENES FROM MULTIDRUG RESISTANTSALMONELLAHEIDELBERG TO COMMENSAL BACTERIA IN THE CHICKEN GUT, AND (2) TO TRACK THE EFFICACY IN THE REDUCTION OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENE SPREAD AMONG THE GUT BACTERIA USING NEXT GENERATION SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS METAGENOMICS AND HI-C SEQUENCING.THIS PROPOSAL REPRESENTS THE FIRST IN-DEPTH STUDY AIMED TO CONTROL AMR TRANSMISSION IN BROILER PRODUCTION SYSTEMS AND IS EXPECTED TO YIELD ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY STRATEGIES FOR MITIGATING AR SPREAD ACROSS THE FOOD CHAIN.