CEFAS24-29 Contract for services for whole genome sequencing of Streptococcus agalactiae serotypes in Indian aquatic systems, under the Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP)

The Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) is funded through official development assistance (ODA) as part of the UK's £500 million Blue Planet Fund. Through the OCPP, the UK government partners with ODA-eligible countries to deliver tangible and positive impacts on the livelihoods of coastal communities that depend on healthy marine ecosystems.

Under the sustainable seafood objective, the programme supports the development of the skills and expertise needed to adopt sustainable seafood practices. This will reduce risks such as the spread of zoonotic diseases from unsustainable or unsafe activities and will support trade in safe seafood. The programme will also help crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing by supporting the development of better management, monitoring and enforcement capabilities.

Following a One Health Aquaculture workshop, held in Kerala, India in February 2023, key priorities were identified for India that support the overall aim of the Sustainable Seafood project. These priorities are:

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
• Aquatic disease
• Water quality
• Climate change

In this Contract we aim to combine the AMR, aquatic disease and water quality priorities in one project focusing on characterising serotypes of Streptococcus agalactiae bacteria present in culture settings in Asia.

This Contract aims to characterise Streptococcus agalactiae serotypes from a range of regions and culture systems in India, as well as other countries in South-East Asia using high-throughput whole genome sequencing. The genomic data will be used to determine the AMR and toxin genes present in the serotypes, and compare them to existing data from humans, terrestrial-farmed animals, and aquatic animals to determine the risk of zoonosis from antimicrobial resistant S. agalactiae.

The Supplier will:

• Liaise with Cefas about the project requirements to agree a project plan.
• Have a collection of 60 or more Streptococcus agalactiae serotypes from Indian marine or brackish water fish culture available for next generation sequencing, with at least 50% of samples collected with the last 5 years. These should already be held by the Supplier.
• Culture bacterial serotypes and test for antimicrobial sensitivity using disk diffusion tests.
• Culture Streptococcus agalactiae serotypes for DNA extraction (either in-house or outsourced).
• Prepare DNA from Streptococcus agalactiae serotypes for whole genome sequencing (either in-house or outsourced).
• Work with Cefas to analyse whole genome sequencing data from serotypes to identify antimicrobial resistance.
• Work with Cefas to produce and publish a peer-reviewed publication (costs of open-access publication to be covered by Cefas outside of this Contract cost)
• Have general engagement with Cefas for the duration of the project to update on progress.