We first had to isolate the phage from a soil sample; we did this by obtaining a small amount of dirt and then mixing several additives which helped separate the phage from the soil. We then performed a multitude of plaque assays (plating the phage on an L-Agar plate and incubating them) to purify our phage. Once we were sure we only had one species of phage, we created a High Titer Lysate (HTL; pretty much a super concentrated liquid containing phage) which our electron microscope pictures were taken using. Our other results like our plaque morphology come from our plaque assays.
You stated what the capsid diameter and the tail length are. What is the relationship between these values? Is that what determines which family it is.
Yes, the tail length is usually a telling factor in what cluster (family) our phage could belong to. The capsid size can be the same across multiple species, but usually the tail length varies more species to species. To definitely determine what cluster a phage comes from, some DNA analysis would have to be performed using that phage’s genome to see what other phage it compares to, but tail length can rule out entire clusters the phage could possibly belong to.
How did you obtain those results, what were your methods?
We first had to isolate the phage from a soil sample; we did this by obtaining a small amount of dirt and then mixing several additives which helped separate the phage from the soil. We then performed a multitude of plaque assays (plating the phage on an L-Agar plate and incubating them) to purify our phage. Once we were sure we only had one species of phage, we created a High Titer Lysate (HTL; pretty much a super concentrated liquid containing phage) which our electron microscope pictures were taken using. Our other results like our plaque morphology come from our plaque assays.
You stated what the capsid diameter and the tail length are. What is the relationship between these values? Is that what determines which family it is.
Yes, the tail length is usually a telling factor in what cluster (family) our phage could belong to. The capsid size can be the same across multiple species, but usually the tail length varies more species to species. To definitely determine what cluster a phage comes from, some DNA analysis would have to be performed using that phage’s genome to see what other phage it compares to, but tail length can rule out entire clusters the phage could possibly belong to.