Animal health and welfare are of crucial importance in modern food production systems. A healthy microbiota plays a central role in maintaining good health in production animals and is influenced by factors such as growth rate, stress, and disease resistance. Bacteriophages can be one of these factors, likely directly influencing the balance between beneficial and harmful microbes. Bacteriophages play a crucial role in regulating bacterial populations and shaping the diversity of bacterial communities in various environments, including the gut microbiome in animals. Using bacteriophages offers the possibility to regulate the microbiota, presenting a new way to improve animal health. This technology could be a significant biological alternative to current methods of treating and preventing diseases. The project aims to establish tools for identifying bacteriophages from animal samples, initially by establishing and analyzing deep-sequenced fecal samples and later by developing laboratory tools for cultivation and exposing bacteriophages to bacterial cultures. This work could provide a platform for conducting new experiments targeting specific bacteria to identify phages, enhancing our understanding of their presence and function in poultry production.
Partners
- Magne Hansen, Animalia
- Siri Sjurseth, Nortura
- Turhan Markussen, NMBU
