Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Abundance and Microbiota Composition in Feces of Organic and Conventional Pigs from Four EU Countries.

ABSTRACT: One of the recent trends in animal production is the revival of interest in organic farming. The increased consumer interest in organic animal farming is mainly due to concerns about animal welfare and the use of antibiotics in conventional farming. On the other hand, providing animals with a more natural lifestyle implies their increased exposure to environmental sources of different microorganisms including pathogens. To address these concerns, we determined the abundance of antibiotic resistance and diversity within fecal microbiota in pigs kept under conventional and organic farming systems in Sweden, Denmark, France and Italy. The abundance of sul1, sul2, strA, tet(A), tet(B) and cat antibiotic resistance genes was determined in 468 samples by real-time PCR and the fecal microbiota di

SUBMITTER: Gerzova L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4517930 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature