A temperate phage is a phage that is capable of undergoing both the lytic and lysogenic life cycles as indicated in figure 1 on the poster. To answer you question, it must be understood that phages are select for vaccines based on their host range of bacteria. There are vaccines today that utilize an initially temperate phage, however, these phages are genetically modified to strictly undergo the lytic lifecycle. Thus any phages that is within a vaccine will likely only go through the lytic cycle, but these phages may have initially been a temperate phage. So in this example, Hazza itself wouldn’t be found in a vaccine because it is capable of undergoing the lysogenic lifecycle which doesn’t immediately kill the bacteria. But Hazza could be genetically modified to only undergo the lytic lifecycle, which then will be used in vaccines. Ultimately, initially temperate phages can be in vaccines because they are selected from their host range, but they will be modified to only undergo the lytic cycle which dismisses them from the temperate phage category.
We didn’t select Hazza as a phage. We isolated a phage and discovered that it was a novel phage and then archived it and named it Hazza. It was a temperate phage is a siphoviridae morphotype. Thus the plaques it produces had halo characteristics and were turbid. The phage itself had a long non-contractile tale with a circular head.
Restriction Digest enzymes are enzymes that cleave the phage DNA when it sees a specific sequences that is unique to each enzyme. They were used in this experiment to get a sense of what cluster/subcluster Hazza was in. This was valid because phages in the same cluster/subcluster contain similar genomes and will thus be cut by the restriction enzymes a similar number of times.
We didn’t pick Hazza. We isolated a phage and discovered that it was novel and then archived it and named it Hazza. It is important to know the length and diameter of the phage in order to identify it in the future. Thus, when a phage is isolated and analyzed in the future, they will be able to compare the characteristics of the phage (tail length, head shape and diameter) with phage who produced similar results in order to correctly identify the phage identity.
What does it mean to be a temperate phage? Do you have any examples of vaccines we use today that include temperate phages like Hazza in them?
A temperate phage is a phage that is capable of undergoing both the lytic and lysogenic life cycles as indicated in figure 1 on the poster. To answer you question, it must be understood that phages are select for vaccines based on their host range of bacteria. There are vaccines today that utilize an initially temperate phage, however, these phages are genetically modified to strictly undergo the lytic lifecycle. Thus any phages that is within a vaccine will likely only go through the lytic cycle, but these phages may have initially been a temperate phage. So in this example, Hazza itself wouldn’t be found in a vaccine because it is capable of undergoing the lysogenic lifecycle which doesn’t immediately kill the bacteria. But Hazza could be genetically modified to only undergo the lytic lifecycle, which then will be used in vaccines. Ultimately, initially temperate phages can be in vaccines because they are selected from their host range, but they will be modified to only undergo the lytic cycle which dismisses them from the temperate phage category.
What was the reason behind picking the Hazza phage? Does it have any distinguishing features that piqued your interest?
We didn’t select Hazza as a phage. We isolated a phage and discovered that it was a novel phage and then archived it and named it Hazza. It was a temperate phage is a siphoviridae morphotype. Thus the plaques it produces had halo characteristics and were turbid. The phage itself had a long non-contractile tale with a circular head.
What are restriction digest enzymes and why were they used in this experiment? What is the difference between each of the restriction enzyme types?
Restriction Digest enzymes are enzymes that cleave the phage DNA when it sees a specific sequences that is unique to each enzyme. They were used in this experiment to get a sense of what cluster/subcluster Hazza was in. This was valid because phages in the same cluster/subcluster contain similar genomes and will thus be cut by the restriction enzymes a similar number of times.
What is the significance of the different types of restriction digest enzymes and why were they used in this experiment?
Each restriction enzyme cut the phage genome at a unique sequence.
Why is it important to know the length and diameter of the phages? Why did you pick a Hazza phage?
We didn’t pick Hazza. We isolated a phage and discovered that it was novel and then archived it and named it Hazza. It is important to know the length and diameter of the phage in order to identify it in the future. Thus, when a phage is isolated and analyzed in the future, they will be able to compare the characteristics of the phage (tail length, head shape and diameter) with phage who produced similar results in order to correctly identify the phage identity.