Agricultural inputs and plant-associated protozoa, unexplored drivers of antibiotic resistance in Salmonella Typhi

The major goal of this project is to answer these questions: 1) Does exposure to herbicides cause heritable gain of function in Salmonella? 2) Do flood irrigated crops, such as rice, provide a fertile niche for AMR acquisition in Salmonella from biocides such as fungicides? 3) Can free living protozoa provide a niche for horizontal gene transfer within survival structures? 4) Can free living protozoafacilitate Salmonellasurvival on raw produce?Objective1 will characterize antibiotic resistance development from agricultural biocides.Objective 2 will determine the role of protozoa in foodborne pathogen antibiotic resistance acquisition and increased survival.