** 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 THREAT TO HUMAN AND ANIMAL HEALTH, AND THE FOOD SUPPLY IS A MAJOR ROUTE OF AMR TRANSMISSION FROM ANIMALS TO HUMANS. DESPITE ITS IMPORTANCE, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE AMR GENES (RESISTOME) BECAUSE APPROPRIATE TOOLS TO MEASURE RESISTOMES AT BROAD SCALE DO NOT EXIST. TO THIS DATE METHODS AVAILABLE FOR TRACKING AMR GENES ACROSS THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN ARE LABOR-INTENSIVE OR PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE. OUR TEAM AT PENN STATE HAS DEVELOPED A COST-EFFECTIVE RESISTOME PROFILING SYSTEM BASED ON A DUAL ENZYME TECHNOLOGY THAT HAD NOT BEEN APPLIED TO INVESTIGATE AMR. IN ESSENCE, THE METHOD ENRICHES AMR GENES FOR SEQUENCING IN A TARGETED MANNER, WHICH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE SURVEILLANCE AND FIGHT AGAINST AMR.IN THIS INTEGRATED PROJECT WE WILL FIRST REFINE OUR METHOD AND VALIDATE IT IN COLLABORATION WITH AN EXTERNAL LABORATORY. NEXT, WE WILL APPLY THE METHOD TO ANSWER AN INDUSTRY RELEVANT QUESTION: HOW DOES FEEDING NATURAL ANTIMICROBIALS IMPACTS THE RESISTOME IN POULTRY? SINCE 2017, THE USE OF MEDICALLY IMPORTANT ANTIBIOTICS FOR GROWTH PROMOTION HAS BEEN PROHIBITED, GIVING RISE TO ALTERNATIVE FEED ADDITIVES SUCH AS PHYTOTHERAPEUTICS, PROBIOTICS AND PREBIOTICS FOR PATHOGEN SUPPRESSION AND TO MAINTAIN FEED CONVERSION AND GUT HEALTH. HOWEVER, VERY LITTLE RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE TO UNDERSTAND THE SPECIFIC CHANGES IN THE GUT MICROBES CAUSED BY THESE PRODUCTS. IN THIS PROJECT WE WILL APPLY OUR REFINED METHOD TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION AND DEVELOP CURRICULA AND EXTENSION TRAINING ON MONITORING AND MITIGATION OF AMR IN THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN AND OFFER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES TO FACILITATE THE BROAD ADOPTION OF THIS NOVEL METHOD.?