Bacterial farming

In another example, fungi farm bacteria... M. Pion et al. Bacterial farming by the fungus Morchella crassipes 2013. ProcBiolSci. 280(1773),p. 2242. DOl 10.1098/rspb.2013.2242. 

The nature of the conditions of intensive production, however, can increase the risk of diseases and infections which can spread very rapidly and devastate large numbers of animals." Thus it is common practice for producers of poultry to add coccidiostats to their diets and vaccines to their drinking water in order to prevent coccidiosis and other infectious diseases such as bronchitis and Newcastle disease. A similar problem exists for intensively reared fish, where it is necessary to add antibiotics to their diets. A problem with intensively reared fish is that their diet is added directly into the water in which they live thus drugs and other additives in the diet are relatively easily dispersed into the local environment of fish farms, where they can increase bacterial resistance and also cause problems such as algal blooms. 

A study of 28 dairy farms in The Netherlands found that the introduction of an automatic milking system led to a reduction in milk quality compared to conventional farms, owing to an increase in the total bacterial plate count and of free fatty acids (Klungel et al., 2000). 

Fig. 16.2 A 3-year on-farm comparison study in Switzerland where microbial activity in orchard soils (expressed as the ratio of microbial bound carbonmitrogen) was higher (low values indicate higher bacterial presence and activity) in organic (filled symbols) than in integrated (open symbols) managed orchards (same symbol shape = orchards in the same village), (a) A clear correlation between the Cmic Nmic ratio to phosphorus content of the fruit flesh was found which (b) in turn was correlated with the fruit quality index (including sugar and acidity content and fruit flesh firmness) P = phosphorus content of the fruit fresh in mg/kg dry matter.

Fig. 16.3 Replicated field trial in Wadenswil, Switzerland where higher bacteria biomass (expressed as microbial bound carbon (Cmic) was found in the organically managed orchard soils (crosses = organic squares = conventional, integrated) than in orchards managed according to integrated farming practice. Higher bacterial biomass was correlated with increased content of water-extractable calcium in soil samples...

Stevenson PC, Anderson JC, Blaney WM, Simmonds MSJ (1993) Developmental inhibition of Spodoptera litura (Fab.) larvae by a novel caffeoylquinic acid from the wild groundnut, Arachis paraguariensis. J Chem Ecol 19 2917-2933 Stockdale EA, Shepherd MA, Fortune S, Cuttle SP (2002) Soil fertility in organic farming systems - fundamentally different Soil Use Manage 18 301-308 Sturz AV, Christie BR, Matheson BG (1998) Associations of bacterial endophyte populations from red clover and potato crops with potential for beneficial allelopathy. Can J Microbiol 44 162-167... 

It would not be difficult to speculate on the problems that would arise if no antibacterial medication were available. Large numbers of farm animals would perish, chronic bacterial disease would be commonplace and the consequent losses both of life and productivity would drastically inflate the cost of milk and meat production apart from resulting in the bankruptcy and disappearance of many livestock producers ... 

Samuelsen O.B., V. Torsvik, and A. Ervik (1992). Long-range changes in ox)4etracycline concentration and bacterial resistance toward oxytetracycline in a fish farm sediment after medication. Science of the Total Environment 114 25-36. 

Amoxicillin is a close analogue to ampicillin that is also inactivated by -lactamases. The action and uses of amoxicillin are like those of ampicillin. Hence it is used against a wide variety of bacterial infections in farm animals including those of the gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinary, and mammary system. It is administered in the form of tablets, suspensions, powders, parenteral, and intramammary formulations at dosage rates of 10 mg/kg bw by the oral route and 7-15 mg/kg bw by the parenteral route. 

---