With 10 million death per year worldwide expected by 2050, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now considered by all major international organizations to be one of the most challenging threats for humankind. This is due to the international occurrence of AMR, its high health impact as well as deep economic and social implications. The ANTIVERSA project explores the links between AMR and biodiversity specifically in freshwater and soil ecosystems. The project aims to answer the question of whether biologically diverse ecosystems have a greater capacity to prevent or delay the spread of AMR compared to low-diversity environments. Important societal trends of globalization and urbanization are likely to increase the pressure on water and terrestrial resources in the future. Studying whether high biodiversity in urbanized systems also results in ecosystems that contain less potential pathogens (specifically less bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes) is crucial. Consequently, the project experimentally tests the hypothesis that the level of biodiversity of the microbial communities affects the invasion success of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARBs). This will be tested based on exposed naturally assembled freshwater and soil communities differing in microbial diversity. The experiments will be conducted in a harmonized procedure such that a variation of diversity of seven nations in Central Europe will be tested for freshwater sediments and soil. In addition to the above described diversity, microbial communities with differing past exposure to anthropogenic impacts will be chosen. The experiments follow and increasing complexity from the exposure to cultured single ARB strains to the exposure of wastewater treatment effluent and pig manure for varying temperature settings. Furthermore, selected sites will be monitored for their biodiversity and abundance of ARGs and ARBs in order to test for a (negative) correlation of the microbial community biodiversity and ARG and ARB abundance in the field. Additionally, indicators for water and soil quality and human health will be monitored. This will aid the development of regulations on maintaining water and soil quality. The project recognizes the importance of socio-economic aspects of microbial resistance and biodiversity and therefore includes important communication and social-scientific elements. It addresses several stakeholders as well the general public who are – to some degree – involved in an increasing discharge of various pollutants, including antibiotic resistant bacteria. The water and soil resources provide ecosystem services that are important for the society and the economy alike. The present research project is located at the nexus of the sectors listed above and will test an aspect of maintaining biodiversity that may become even more clear and reveal a hitherto unappreciated ecosystem service.

Mobile laboratories are becoming increasingly important for quick response to epidemic outbreaks in remote areas. Due to climate change and rising temperatures, emerging arboviruses (Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, West Nile Virus, Rift Valley fever, Dengue fever) are finding their way into Europe through arthropod vectors (mosquitoes, ticks), and are becoming a major public health concern. Optimally monitoring zoonotic outbreaks requires a "One Health" approach, in which not only human, but also animal and environmental samples are analysed, as close as possible to the vectors' habitat. Also returning travellers might carry haemorrhagic Ebola/Marburg virus or respiratory pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. A survey of existing European mobile laboratory capacity revealed several shortcomings: of 193 labs, 66% were civilian, 88% were exclusively for human diagnostics, with 11% having an accredited quality management system, and only 3% had the highest bio-safety level BSL-4 needed for (haemorrhagic) arbovirus handling. MOBILISE aims to close this diagnostic gap, by developing a novel, quality-assured, mobile One Health laboratory solution, to provide BSL-4 capacity to many European countries. It will receive human/animal/environmental samples for molecular diagnostics, serology, microbiology, and host a whole genome sequencing platform for pathogen discovery and epidemiological analysis. We will further develop novel rapid diagnostic tests for BSL-3/4 pathogens, and produce results in machine-readable form. A novel AI-based "Emergency Operating Centre and Decision Support System" software will assist end-users in coordinating MOBILISE fleets across Europe and manage outbreaks in real-time. Hosted on an electric/hybrid truck platform, and using solar and wind-energy, it will also reduce CO2 emissions in compliance with the European Green Deal. The lab will be field-tested to TRL-7 by National agencies and first-responders in Austria, Romania, Greece and Africa.