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International research into biocide resistance granted financial support

Published on
November 26, 2024

The Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) granted the BIORESIST project financial support for research on the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). BIORESIST will kick off in April 2025. The project was awarded almost 1 million euro and will look into the role that biocide/disinfectant usage may play in co-selection of AMR.

BIORESIST is the acronym for Biocide Impact on Antimicrobial Resistance in Enterobacterales in One Health settings. In the project, partners from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Norway and Tanzania join forces. Researcher Mike Brouwer of Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR, part of Wageningen University & Research) will coordinate BIORESIST. The partners of the BIORESIST project aim to compare Whole Genome Sequencing data of collected isolates, as well as the usage of, and attitude towards antimicrobials and biocides in European countries and in Tanzania, a low and middle income country in Africa. Phenotypic testing will be used to compare the collected isolates.

Biocides

In recent years, disinfection of stables and equipment using biocide chemicals has become a standard, but resistance to biocides also exist in bacterial communities. “The abundant usage of biocides may be selecting for resistance against biocides to develop and be spread, similar as AMR-genes”, explains Brouwer. If biocide resistance occurs in multi-drug resistant bacteria, the usage of biocides contributes to the indirect selection of AMR.

Sequencing

As whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has become available, National Reference Laboratories can use these data to investigate the prevalence of biocide resistance, and confirm an association with AMR. Furthermore, generating WGS data from their isolate collections can indicate changes over time. In developing nations, the usage of antimicrobials and biocides historically has been different. A comparison between European countries and an African country, provides an opportunity to understand changes in biocide resistance against different backgrounds.

Collaborative AMR platform

JPIAMR is an international collaborative platform engaging 29 nations and the European Commission to curb antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The platform coordinates national research funding and supports collaborative action for filling knowledge gaps on AMR with a One Health perspective.