When you look to maybe compare your phage with others in the future, would that process look similar to the one you
just did or something completely different?
In the future, if I were to compare my phage with other phage I would isolate the DNA from my phage and then run a restriction digest. From there I would compare the cut sequences of my phage DNA to the cut sequences of other phage DNA to compare them. I could also get an EM picture of my phage and compare the morphology of my phage to others.
The lytic phage produce clear plaques because these phages immediately lyse the bacteria once they attack it -leaving a clear clearing in the bacterial lawn. Whereas, temperate phages produce cloudy plaques because there are lysogens around the edge of the plaque-these are bacteria that contain prophages (these bacteria are not lysed).
There is actually an abundant amount of phage on Earth so there are loads of other phages that I could use in future experiments. I picked the specific phage that I did because it is what was going to attack the host bacteria that we were using which was M. smegmatis. Phages are very specific and will only bind to one specific kind of bacteria.
I didn’t sequence my phage genome, however, if I did it is very likely that my phage genome sequence is similar to other known sequences because “singletons” or phages that have unique sequences are very rare.
When you look to maybe compare your phage with others in the future, would that process look similar to the one you
just did or something completely different?
In the future, if I were to compare my phage with other phage I would isolate the DNA from my phage and then run a restriction digest. From there I would compare the cut sequences of my phage DNA to the cut sequences of other phage DNA to compare them. I could also get an EM picture of my phage and compare the morphology of my phage to others.
Where was this phage collected from?
Hello Liz! My phage was collected from an indoor plant from Westminister, Colorado.
Do you know why lytic phages produce clear plaques?
The lytic phage produce clear plaques because these phages immediately lyse the bacteria once they attack it -leaving a clear clearing in the bacterial lawn. Whereas, temperate phages produce cloudy plaques because there are lysogens around the edge of the plaque-these are bacteria that contain prophages (these bacteria are not lysed).
What another known phages do you think you use in future experiments you conduct, and why would you pick the specific phage you did?
There is actually an abundant amount of phage on Earth so there are loads of other phages that I could use in future experiments. I picked the specific phage that I did because it is what was going to attack the host bacteria that we were using which was M. smegmatis. Phages are very specific and will only bind to one specific kind of bacteria.
How likely do you believe it is that your phage genome sequence is similar to other known sequences?
I didn’t sequence my phage genome, however, if I did it is very likely that my phage genome sequence is similar to other known sequences because “singletons” or phages that have unique sequences are very rare.