AgAR (Agricultural Antibiotic Resistance)

An Environmental Component of a "One Health" approach, the mission of the Agricultural Antibiotic Resistance (AgAR) project is to

develop practical tools and protocols to measure antibiotic drugs, resistant bacteria and resistance genes in agriculturally-impacted soil, water, air, and food;
design and evaluate agricultural best management practices to limit the persistence and spread of antibiotic resistance from agroecosystems;
facilitate sharing of ideas and resources among ARS scientists by establishing an agency-wide network of researchers with the common goal of conducting science-based research on AgAR topics.

ANTIBIOTIC DRUGS: Which drugs are the most relevant for each type of ag production system? At what level do excreted drugs continue to provide selective pressure in the environment?
RESISTANT BACTERIA: What is the relative contribution of specific bacteria to resistance in human clinical settings? Are some bacteria more likely than others to donate or receive resistance genes? What is the relative contribution of clonal spread of pathogens versus horizontal gene transfer?
RESISTANT GENES: How long do specific types of genes persist in agricultural samples? What conditions increase or decrease the likelihood of a successful transfer in manure, soil, water, and air? What is the role of the natural soil "resistome"?
AgAR Network Goals:

Connect ARS researchers at multiple locations in order to develop and assess methods for measuring resistance that are robust, and that are validated across production systems and geographical areas.
Identify which types of resistance are relevant to measure, based on an understanding of individual production systems and prioritized human health threats as identified by WHO and CDC
Encourage the collection of baseline data and control samples so that the impact of agricultural best management practices can be accurately determined.
Assess persistence of antibiotic drugs, resistant bacteria and resistance genes in environmental and pre-harvest settings.
Long term goal: Discover the details of how, and at what rate bacteria and genes move back and forth between animals and humans through agricultural systems (soil, water, air wildlife, insects, and food).

The AgAR network is composed of ARS scientists with an interest in understanding the ecology of antibiotic resistance in soil, water, air, insects, wildlife, and food. The network currently represents 4 national programs at 10 ARS locations across the United States, with over 200 peer-reviewed publications on AgAR topics, authored and co-authored by over 70 current and former ARS employees.
Activities:

Facilitate routine communication between AgAR members to address priority research areas, encourage agency and location wide collaboration and minimize research overlap.
Establish a framework for the cross-laboratory validation of AgAR methods.
Serve as a resource to scientists, stakeholders and administrators on current and past projects that address AgAR.
Provide a point of contact for agency coordinators to solicit information and transmit agency goals to relevant research groups.

Importance:
While there is broad agreement the use of antibiotics in food animals has the potential to adversely impact human clinical outcomes, the details of how this happens are unknown, and there is a critical need for information on antibiotic resistance (AR) in agricultural settings (AgAR). U.S. and international health organizations have taken the lead on identifying specific antibiotic drugs and resistant infections that are critical to human health. ARS is uniquely positioned to provide information on the "farm" side of the "farm to fork continuum". ARS scientists are able to address these questions in a practical way, by combining their experience (over 200 peer-reviewed ARS publications on antibiotic resistance) with their applied understanding of agricultural production systems.
ORGANIZATION: Scientists work on their own, individual research projects. The AgAR network provides resources to participants to encourage collaboration across program areas and geographical location.
MANAGEMENT: The AgAR network is operated using a wiki community approach. All participating scientists are encouraged to contribute to and share in the community resources. Currently, the group resources will be curated by the group coordinator, with input and guidance from a five person advisory panel.
RESOURCES: Bibliography of peer-reviewed AgAR papers by ARS authors • AgAR topic reference lists • information on meetings and conferences • "AR_in_environment" listserve • Community webinars
Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: AgAR Data Search. File Name: Web Page, url: https://agcros-usdaars.opendata.arcgis.com/pages/ag-ar

本数据集系“健康一体”方法环境成分的一部分，其旨在推动农业抗生素耐药性（AgAR）项目，该项目旨在研发实用工具和操作规程，以测量受农业影响的土壤、水、空气和食品中的抗生素药物、耐药细菌和耐药基因；设计并评估农业最佳管理实践，以限制抗生素耐药性在农业生态系统中的持续存在和传播；通过建立一个涵盖所有机构的、以共同开展基于科学研究的AgAR课题为目标的科研人员网络，促进美国农业研究服务局（ARS）科学家之间思想和资源的共享。

抗生素药物：针对不同类型的农业生产系统，哪些药物最为相关？排泄药物在何种程度上继续在环境中提供选择性压力？
耐药细菌：特定细菌在人类临床环境中对耐药性的相对贡献是多少？某些细菌是否比其他细菌更有可能捐赠或接收耐药基因？病原体克隆传播与水平基因转移的相对贡献是什么？
耐药基因：特定类型的基因在农业样品中持续存在的时间有多长？哪些条件增加了或减少了在粪便、土壤、水和空气中的成功转移的可能性？天然土壤“抗性组”的作用是什么？

AgAR网络目标：
连接多个地点的ARS研究人员，以开发并评估测量耐药性的稳健方法，这些方法在生产系统和地理区域内得到验证。
根据对个体生产系统的理解，以及世界卫生组织和疾病控制与预防中心确定的人为健康威胁的优先级，确定哪些类型的耐药性是相关的，需要测量。
鼓励收集基线数据和对照样品，以便准确确定农业最佳管理实践的影响。
评估抗生素药物、耐药细菌和耐药基因在环境和收获前的环境中的持久性。
长期目标：发现细菌和基因如何在农业系统中（土壤、水、空气、野生动物、昆虫和食品）在动物和人类之间来回移动的细节和速率。

AgAR网络由对理解土壤、水、空气、昆虫、野生动物和食品中抗生素耐药性生态学感兴趣的ARS科学家组成。该网络目前代表美国10个ARS地点的4个国家项目，有超过200篇关于AgAR主题的同行评审出版物，由70多位现任和前任ARS员工撰写或共同撰写。

活动：
促进AgAR成员之间的日常沟通，以解决优先研究领域，鼓励机构和地点之间的广泛合作，并最大限度地减少研究重叠。
建立AgAR方法的跨实验室验证框架。
作为科学家、利益相关者和管理人员当前和过去项目的信息资源。
为机构协调员提供一个联系人，以征求信息并将机构目标传达给相关研究小组。

重要性：
尽管广泛认为在食品动物中使用抗生素可能对人类临床结果产生不利影响，但其具体发生方式尚不清楚，迫切需要有关农业环境中抗生素耐药性（AgAR）的信息。美国和国际卫生组织已率先确定对人类健康至关重要的特定抗生素药物和耐药感染。美国农业研究服务局（ARS）独具特色，能够提供有关“农场”端“从农场到餐桌”连续体”的信息。ARS科学家能够以实用的方式解决这些问题，通过结合他们在抗生素耐药性（超过200篇同行评审ARS出版物）方面的经验，以及他们对农业生产系统的应用理解。

组织：科学家在其各自的研究项目中独立工作。AgAR网络为参与者提供资源，以鼓励跨计划和地理区域的合作。
管理：AgAR网络采用维基社区方法运营。所有参与科学家都鼓励为社区资源做出贡献并共享。
目前，该组资源将由小组协调员负责整理，并得到一个五人咨询小组的指导和建议。
资源：由ARS作者撰写的同行评审AgAR论文文献目录、AgAR主题参考列表、会议和会议信息、“AR_in_environment”通讯列表、社区网络研讨会。