Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Antibiotic-Free Chicken Farms
Yuhong Liu,
Michael Dyall-Smith,
Marc Marenda,
Hang-Wei Hu,
Glenn Browning,
Helen Billman-Jacobe
Affiliations
Yuhong Liu
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Michael Dyall-Smith
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Marc Marenda
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Hang-Wei Hu
School of Agriculture and Food, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Glenn Browning
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Helen Billman-Jacobe
Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Rising concern about the use of antibiotics in food production has resulted in many studies on the occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in animal-associated bacterial communities. There are few baseline data on the abundance of ARGs on farms where chickens are intensively raised with little or no use of antibiotics. This study used a high-throughput quantitative PCR array to survey two antibiotic-free chicken farms for the occurrence of ARGs and mobile genetic elements known to enhance the spread of ARGs. No antibiotics had been used on the study farms for five years prior to this study. The results provide a baseline for the occurrence of resistance genes in the chicken production system without direct selective pressure.
