The aim of the DREAM project is to study whether diet, through its impact on the digestive microbiota, can modulate the selection of antibiotic resistance during treatment. Multiple observations suggest that, from one individual to another, the intensity of selective pressure associated with antibiotic treatment is highly variable. Understanding the basis of this variability could enable us to better control the spread of antibiotic resistance. To test this hypothesis, we have chosen to focus on the Escherichia coli species, using (i) stools from volunteers from the Nutrinet-Santé cohort with a clearly defined dietary profile, (ii) a device simulating the digestive tract in which the complex and specific microbiota of the donors will be inoculated and subjected to antibiotic treatment, and (iii) a battery of analyses ranging from characterization of the microbiota, its metabolism or bacterial physiology.
In terms of bioinformatics, the LABGeM team is involved in metagenomic and metabolomic data analysis.