Research | oplait

RESEARCH AXIS & THEMES

Axe 1

AXIS 1 - Farm Management and Milk Quality

Leaders: Elsa Vasseur (McGill U.) and Pierre Lacasse (AAC)

Assessment of the impact of housing conditions and the environment on infection pressure, animal resistance and resilience, animal welfare, and ultimately on milk yield and milk characteristics.

Theme 1 - Microbial populations and infection pressure

Assess the housing conditions that affect microbial load in the environment and the presence of microorganisms pathogenic to animals and/or humans.
Elucidate, using approaches combining epidemiology, artificial intelligence, and molecular microbiology, the links between farm management, microbial population dynamics within farms, and milk quality.

Theme 2 - Animal robustness and resilience to infections

Identify the physiological, immunological, and genetic mechanisms by which animals are able to resist (robustness) infections and/or mitigate their negative effects (resilience).
Develop immunostimulatory molecules, vaccines, and feeding and housing management approaches to strengthen animal resistance and robustness to infections.

Theme 3 - Animal welfare

Identify the behavioral, physiological, and genetic mechanisms by which animals are able to make the most of housing conditions and mitigate associated stress.
Develop innovative management practices aimed at maximizing the welfare of all animals raised on dairy farms.

AXIS 2 - Pathogens

Leaders: François Maloin (U. de Sherbrooke) and Juan Carlos Arango Sabogal (U. de Montréal)

Detection, characterization, and control methods for pathogens, as well as associated biosecurity measures, to reduce their negative impacts on animal health, the microbiota, and milk safety.

Theme 1 - Detection and characterization of pathogens

Develop or improve diagnostic tools enabling rapid and accurate identification of pathogenic microorganisms.
Develop predictive models using artificial intelligence for rapid and automated identification of potentially infected and/or sick animals or herds.
Characterize virulence factors and genetic profiles of microorganisms affecting milk quality, animal health, and welfare in order to better understand their establishment, persistence, and transmission.

Theme 2 - Biosecurity

Identify housing conditions that reduce transmission and promote elimination of pathogenic microorganisms within a herd (internal biosecurity).
Identify key biosecurity practices to prevent the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms into a herd, including emerging and/or zoonotic microorganisms (external biosecurity).

Theme 3 - Alternatives to conventional treatments

Identify effective molecules, microorganisms (e.g., bacteriophages), or microbial populations (e.g., probiotics) for the prevention or control of infections that could replace conventional antibiotics in dairy production, in order to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Assess the impact of infection control strategies on milk composition and microbiota using biochemical, microbiological, and metagenomic approaches.

Axe 2

AXIS 3 - Microbiological and Physicochemical Characteristics of Milk

Leader: Denis Roy (U. Laval)

Elucidation of the complex interactions between farm practices, microbial dynamics, and intrinsic milk characteristics.

Theme 1 - Microbiological characterization of milk

Determine the diversity of microbial populations (e.g., parasites, bacteria, bacteriophages, biofilm microorganisms, secondary microorganisms) present in milk from its origin on the farm through processing at the plant.
Study the prevalence of emerging microorganisms, as well as imbalances in milk microbial populations that may influence the quality of processed dairy products.

Theme 2 - Influence of animal feeding on milk characteristics

Study the impact of animal feeding on milk aromas, flavor, and oxidative stability.
Study the effect of animal feeding on the modulation of these components.

Theme 3 - Influence of agricultural practices on milk quality

Establish links between farm practices such as bedding management, genetic crossbreeding approaches, and the adoption of automated milking systems, and intrinsic milk qualities such as microbiological characteristics, macro- and micronutrient composition, fatty acid profile, stability, and shelf life.

Axe 3

Axe 4

AXIS 4 - Sustainable Dairy Production

Leaders: Véronique Ouellet (U. Laval) and Sébastien Fournel (U. Laval)

Development and implementation of practices aimed at sustainable and efficient dairy production, making optimal use of resources, respecting the environment, and being resilient to climate change.

Theme 1 - Control of environmental, societal, and economic impacts

Develop innovative management approaches to reduce the use of, and/or mitigate the negative environmental effects of, certain inputs used in dairy production.
Study farm automation, the use of precision tools, and artificial intelligence to address agricultural labor shortages and optimize dairy farm performance.

Theme 2 - Efficiency of production systems

Propose innovative management approaches to optimize milk production and quality per animal unit, agricultural area, and quantity of water used.
Study circular economy approaches enabling optimized resource management to preserve and regenerate ecosystems.
Develop barn designs and pasture-use models that optimize milk production and quality while preserving ecosystems.

Theme 3 - Adaptation to climate change

Propose environmental, nutritional, and genetic strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of heat stress on production, milk quality, and animal welfare.
Develop the dietary transition of dairy cattle toward cultivars and processes better adapted to climate change.

TECHNOLOGICAL PLATFORMS

Pooling resources within the Op+lait cluster ensures access to exclusive microbial collections, technical resources, ultra-specialized equipment, and a wide range of expertise. Each platform is associated with a milk quality research axis and is accessible to members and students for training or experimental purposes.

Plateformes Technologiques