We never got to that point in our own research, but I think we would have to discover and classify an entirely different species of phage that happens to be lytic by nature. There are methods of converting a temperate phage to a lytic one, but these methods were beyond the scope of our class!
Antibiotics are the first thought when it comes to treating Shigella and other similar infections. However, some shigella have become antibiotic resistant, and so in these cases phages would be more effective purely out of necessity.
Hi! I really enjoyed your poster and presentation! I noticed in your future results section you talked about a “phage cocktail”, what exactly do you mean by this? Will there be more than 1 phage introduced, or what else would be present in this “cocktail”. Thanks, and good job!
A “phage cocktail” would essentially consist of many different phages, usually with different morphotypes, thrown together. When these individual phages aggregate, they are capable of treating a wider variety of general diseases compared to a single phage species which can only do so much.
The phage’s appearance indicates its morphotype, which is important because it does change its efficiency in infecting host cells. There are three different morphotypes – myoviridae, podoviridae, and siphoviridae. Our phage was siphoviridae, as indicated by its round head and long, non-contractile tail which helps the phage viral DNA get into the host cell, but the efficiency is more dependent on the phage being lytic or temperate.
curesymposium.org 
How would you go about inducing a lytic life cycle in your phage to make it viable for phage therapy?
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We never got to that point in our own research, but I think we would have to discover and classify an entirely different species of phage that happens to be lytic by nature. There are methods of converting a temperate phage to a lytic one, but these methods were beyond the scope of our class!
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Are phages the most effective way to treat Shigella or is there another type of treatmeant that is more effective?
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Antibiotics are the first thought when it comes to treating Shigella and other similar infections. However, some shigella have become antibiotic resistant, and so in these cases phages would be more effective purely out of necessity.
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Hi! I really enjoyed your poster and presentation! I noticed in your future results section you talked about a “phage cocktail”, what exactly do you mean by this? Will there be more than 1 phage introduced, or what else would be present in this “cocktail”. Thanks, and good job!
LikeLike
A “phage cocktail” would essentially consist of many different phages, usually with different morphotypes, thrown together. When these individual phages aggregate, they are capable of treating a wider variety of general diseases compared to a single phage species which can only do so much.
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What is the significance of what the phage looks like? Does that change its efficiency in infecting bacterial cells?
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The phage’s appearance indicates its morphotype, which is important because it does change its efficiency in infecting host cells. There are three different morphotypes – myoviridae, podoviridae, and siphoviridae. Our phage was siphoviridae, as indicated by its round head and long, non-contractile tail which helps the phage viral DNA get into the host cell, but the efficiency is more dependent on the phage being lytic or temperate.
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What kind of modifications can be made to phages to make them better therapies?
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