PhD 1 Characterisation of the microbiome and antimicrobial resistome in Irish soil, forage grasses and cereals.       

Thoroughly examine and understand the microbiome and antimicrobial resistome in Irish soil, forage grasses, and cereals within the farm environment. Utilize state-of-the-art techniques like metagenomic sequencing, advanced computation, and statistics to profile the farm resistome, identify predator species, assess the persistence of AMR genes in the environment, and analyze the potential risk of their transfer to humans.

Objectives

There is a knowledge gap in our understanding of the antimicrobial resistome present in the farm environment. Applying cutting-edge metagenomic sequencing and advanced computational and statistical approaches the farm resistome will be profiled and predator species identified, while environmental persistence of AMR genes in soil, forage grasses and cereals will be determined and their risk of future transfer to humans analysed.