Team discovers how gene resists antibiotic drugs

Feb 22, 2023

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) have discovered how a previously overlooked gene is involved in antimicrobial resistance—a growing global issue that threatens the health and welfare of both humans and animals.

The gene encodes for an enzyme named EstT and is capable of “turning off” or inactivating macrolides, a class of antibiotic drugs commonly used to treat disease in cattle and other livestock.

The researchers’ findings were published online last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a highly cited multidisciplinary scientific journal.

Tylosin, tilmicosin and tildipirosin are some antibiotics classed as macrolides. Veterinarians rely on these drugs to treat illnesses in cattle such as bovine respiratory disease and liver abscesses as well as other diseases in livestock and companion animals.

With this discovery, veterinarians will know “there’s a possibility that the drug will not work because of the presence of the gene,” said Dr. Poonam Dhindwal (PhD) the paper’s lead author and a post-doctoral fellow at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM).

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.