A lysogenic bacteriophage itself would look the same as a lytic phage, however the plagues that it produces would be different. Because temperate phages can enter the lysogenic cycle, they produce turbid plaques with a halo surrounding them which is distinguishable from a clear lytic plaque.
I would run future experiments using our phage on other bacteria in the mycobacterium genus which our phage is known to infect. This includes bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is the cause of over 1 million deaths a year.
Phage therapy can be very versatile, in that there are many ways in which it is administered. Once a phage is shown to kill a bacteria of interest, it has potential to be used in a patient infected with that bacteria. Depending on where the infection is, the phages can be introduced orally, topically, or through a local injection.
A phage cluster is a way of grouping phages together which have similar characteristics. In order to be placed in the same cluster as another phage, the 2 phages must have at least 50% similar DNA. Because of this, we can use the characteristics of other cluster K phages to make predictions on the characteristics of our own phage.
What would a phage that was lysogenic look like in comparison to one that is lytic?
A lysogenic bacteriophage itself would look the same as a lytic phage, however the plagues that it produces would be different. Because temperate phages can enter the lysogenic cycle, they produce turbid plaques with a halo surrounding them which is distinguishable from a clear lytic plaque.
What “bacteria of interest” would you run your future experiments on?
I would run future experiments using our phage on other bacteria in the mycobacterium genus which our phage is known to infect. This includes bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis which is the cause of over 1 million deaths a year.
What sort of phage therapies are possible?
Phage therapy can be very versatile, in that there are many ways in which it is administered. Once a phage is shown to kill a bacteria of interest, it has potential to be used in a patient infected with that bacteria. Depending on where the infection is, the phages can be introduced orally, topically, or through a local injection.
What is the significance of it being a cluster K phage?
A phage cluster is a way of grouping phages together which have similar characteristics. In order to be placed in the same cluster as another phage, the 2 phages must have at least 50% similar DNA. Because of this, we can use the characteristics of other cluster K phages to make predictions on the characteristics of our own phage.
Are there a lot of cluster K phages to compare your phage to or is that a smaller cluster?
In order to compare phages, we used a website called phagesdb.org. Of the 11,505 phages identified, 158 belong to cluster K.