Rossi is the name of the bacteriophage we characterized. And temperate means that the bacteriophage, Rossi, first undergoes the lysogenic lifecycle and then the lytic lifecycle, not just the lytic lifecycle.
After a restriction digest gel was run on the viral DNA, we used an external program to put in the amount of cuts each enzyme did on the DNA. We approximated the number of cuts based on the gel and then a prediction cluster was given to us by the program. And then we tested that hypothesis with a PCR gel.
I think that it is a little too early to tell if our phage could be used to treat bacterial infections, but I think that it really depends on what type of bacterial infection it is and what type of phage can kill it.
I would run another restriction digest and use the external program to hypothesis the cluster and then run the DNA PCR again to solidify the cluster it is part of. I might also run the viral DNA with different primers to confirm that it’s not part of that certain cluster.
Is “Rossi” the bacteriophage you are investigating? Also, what does “temperate” mean in the context of phage genomics?
Rossi is the name of the bacteriophage we characterized. And temperate means that the bacteriophage, Rossi, first undergoes the lysogenic lifecycle and then the lytic lifecycle, not just the lytic lifecycle.
By what knowledge did you hypothesize what cluster your phage could have been in?
After a restriction digest gel was run on the viral DNA, we used an external program to put in the amount of cuts each enzyme did on the DNA. We approximated the number of cuts based on the gel and then a prediction cluster was given to us by the program. And then we tested that hypothesis with a PCR gel.
Do you think that your phage has the potential to be used as an antibiotic?
I think that it is a little too early to tell if our phage could be used to treat bacterial infections, but I think that it really depends on what type of bacterial infection it is and what type of phage can kill it.
Could you elaborate more on the tests you’d like to run if in the future you had the time? How would these add to the research you’ve already done?
I would run another restriction digest and use the external program to hypothesis the cluster and then run the DNA PCR again to solidify the cluster it is part of. I might also run the viral DNA with different primers to confirm that it’s not part of that certain cluster.