9th Seminar "ARG in bioaerosols"
In Quebec, freshwater aquaculture is particularly dedicated to the breeding of salmonids for the stocking of lakes for sport fishing and, to a lesser extent, for direct consumption (groceries, restaurants, etc.). Fish farming in Quebec is facing several challenges, but one of the main ones is the recurrent episodes of infections caused by the bacterium Aeromonas salmonicida subspecies salmonicida responsible for furunculosis. This disease can decimate livestock in a few days. The only treatment currently available in Quebec against this disease is antibiotics. Unfortunately, antibiotic resistance is commonplace and sometimes creates insurmountable therapeutic constraints for this industry. In recent years, our research team has taken an interest, thanks to the construction of a collection of more than 350 strains of A. salmonicida and the use of high throughput sequencing methods, to the plasmidome of this bacterium and more particularly to the plasmids carrying genes for resistance to antibiotics. The presentation will focus on the description of this resistance, the links between this bacterium and other pathogens, the alternative means we are developing to circumvent antibiotic resistance and our new project on the potential presence of antibiotic resistance genes in the air of fish farms.