Presentation Type
Poster
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Daniel Williams, Biology
Other Mentors
Michael Pierce, Biology
Major
Biology
Presentation Abstract
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, posses the potential to be utilized for therapeutic purposes. Despite being the most abundant biological entity, the biological function of many phage genes has not been established. Our lab is analyzing each gene of the phage Phayonce, which infects Mycobacterium smegmatis. First, individual genes are inserted into an inducible expression vector. Then, these plasmids were used to transform M. smegmatis and determine if individual genes have toxic effects on host cells. Because functions of gene number 35 and 52 of Phayonce cannot be inferred by sequence comparison, they were selected for analysis. These genes were cloned into the pExTra inducible expression vector and used to transform M. smegmatis. We assessed cytotoxicity of these gene products by assaying host cell growth rates on media that induces expression of the phage genes. Our results will establish a biological role of these bacteriophage proteins that could be developed into therapeutic strategies to combat bacterial diseases.
Location
Poster Session 2
Start Date
13-4-2022 4:30 PM
End Date
13-4-2022 6:30 PM
Disciplines
Biology
Recommended Citation
Montoya, Abbey and Sundman, Olivia, "Cloning and Overexpression of Phayonce Genes to Assess Cytotoxicity in Mycobacterium Smegmatis" (2022). Undergraduate Research Competition. 52.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2022/fullconference/52
Included in
Cloning and Overexpression of Phayonce Genes to Assess Cytotoxicity in Mycobacterium Smegmatis
Poster Session 2
Bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria, posses the potential to be utilized for therapeutic purposes. Despite being the most abundant biological entity, the biological function of many phage genes has not been established. Our lab is analyzing each gene of the phage Phayonce, which infects Mycobacterium smegmatis. First, individual genes are inserted into an inducible expression vector. Then, these plasmids were used to transform M. smegmatis and determine if individual genes have toxic effects on host cells. Because functions of gene number 35 and 52 of Phayonce cannot be inferred by sequence comparison, they were selected for analysis. These genes were cloned into the pExTra inducible expression vector and used to transform M. smegmatis. We assessed cytotoxicity of these gene products by assaying host cell growth rates on media that induces expression of the phage genes. Our results will establish a biological role of these bacteriophage proteins that could be developed into therapeutic strategies to combat bacterial diseases.