In plaque streaking, one takes a sample from the enrichment plate and streaks it across a new plate. After this first streak is incubated for ~48 hours, you sample a single plaque from that plate and streak it across another new plate. The goal is to achieve two plaque streak plates that all have uniform and very similar/identical plaques. If all the plaques appear to be very similar, then you can conclude that you have purified your phage sample and that there is only one type of phage present in your plaque streaks. It should become “purified” because you are only taking a sample from one single plaque every time.
Yes, some of our early plaque streaks had different sizes of plaques leading us to believe there were two different phages present. However, we took samples from both types and streaked them and both new plaque streaks appeared the same. We could further investigate why, what appears to be one phage, created plaques with such a wide variety of size.
Hi! I really enjoyed your presentation and was just curious about if phage therapy will really become a thing? I thought there were ethical/immune system problems with them, making it difficult to use a therapy. What is your opinion now that you have taken the lab?
Good question! Phage therapy is already being used is some parts of the world, such as Georgia. Phage therapy has also been used to treat a Mycobacterium abcessus infection in a 15-year-old patient with cystic fibrosis in the United States. As antibiotic resistance is growing, so is phage research, so, I think we will slowly start adopting phage therapy as a more common treatment for bacterial infections.
In plaque streaking, how exactly does the phage become purified (i.e. the mechanism)?
In plaque streaking, one takes a sample from the enrichment plate and streaks it across a new plate. After this first streak is incubated for ~48 hours, you sample a single plaque from that plate and streak it across another new plate. The goal is to achieve two plaque streak plates that all have uniform and very similar/identical plaques. If all the plaques appear to be very similar, then you can conclude that you have purified your phage sample and that there is only one type of phage present in your plaque streaks. It should become “purified” because you are only taking a sample from one single plaque every time.
Did you encounter any errors in your research that could be improved as a part of you “future directions” page?
Yes, some of our early plaque streaks had different sizes of plaques leading us to believe there were two different phages present. However, we took samples from both types and streaked them and both new plaque streaks appeared the same. We could further investigate why, what appears to be one phage, created plaques with such a wide variety of size.
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Hi! I really enjoyed your presentation and was just curious about if phage therapy will really become a thing? I thought there were ethical/immune system problems with them, making it difficult to use a therapy. What is your opinion now that you have taken the lab?
Good question! Phage therapy is already being used is some parts of the world, such as Georgia. Phage therapy has also been used to treat a Mycobacterium abcessus infection in a 15-year-old patient with cystic fibrosis in the United States. As antibiotic resistance is growing, so is phage research, so, I think we will slowly start adopting phage therapy as a more common treatment for bacterial infections.