PhD position : Heavy metals and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella in the pig industry in France: From breeding to human infections (INRAE/Anses)
37380 Nouzilly
INRAE presentation
The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.
Work environment, missions and activities
Attached to two entities, you will be welcomed for 18 months at Anses in the Food Safety Laboratory (Maisons-Alfort, 94700) and at INRAE Centre-Val-de-Loire (Nouzilly, 37380) for 18 months in the research unit UMR1282 Infectiologie & Santé Publique. The PhD project will be realized in collaboration between the Salmonella & Listeria research unit at Anses (30 people) and the research group on Genomic Plasticity, Biodiversity and Antimicrobial Resistance (10 permanents) at INRAE.
PhD project: Heavy metals and antibiotics have been used for decades in the pig industry to ensure animal health and food safety. Copper, zinc and silver are, or have been, particularly used as food supplements or even as alternatives to antibiotics because of their antimicrobial potential in this sector. The emergence of antibiotic resistance among zoonotic pathogenic bacteria in farmed animals constitutes a threat to public health and requires rational use of antibiotics in livestock. Although the co-occurrence of genes involved in resistance to heavy metals and antibiotics has been described in few Gram-negative bacteria, this phenomenon has been less studied for Salmonella, and particularly for serovars Typhimurium and its monophasic variant which represent half of the strains isolated in the pig industry in France over the past ten years. Co- or cross-resistance events could be at the origin of the selection and persistence of these serovars along the sector. In this context, the SalMETAL-R v2.0 project aims to:
Under the authority of your PhD supervisors, you will be in charge of:
Special conditions of activity:
The PhD program will be run in 2 distinct geographic sites (18 months in both sites)
Training and skills
Master's degree/Engineering degree
INRAE's life quality
By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):
- up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time"
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.
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