We decided to focus on mycobacteriophage that infect M.smegmatis specifcally due to the similarity of this bacteria to M.tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis. In exploring this phage family, we hoped to isolate more phage that could potentially be used against this disease.
By isolating Isby’s enzymes, it could also allow us to better know how to remove these enzymes from Isby. For enzymes such as integrase that allows the phage genome to be integrated with the bacterial genome, this could allow us to make Isby a better candidate for phage therapy.
You had success in figuring out what family Isby was in. Would you have had different future steps if you had found it was in a different family? What is the importance of the particular family?
I don’t think that the future directions would have been too different, however, the phage family does also indicate if the phage is temperate or lytic, as well as it’s morphotype, which gives us insight into how specifically the phage injects it’s DNA. This could have potentially given us more opportunities to go straight into phage therapy applications if Isby was in a lytic cluster.
What motivated you to focus on this specific phage?
We decided to focus on mycobacteriophage that infect M.smegmatis specifcally due to the similarity of this bacteria to M.tuberculosis, which causes tuberculosis. In exploring this phage family, we hoped to isolate more phage that could potentially be used against this disease.
You mentioned a prophage at one point early in the presentation. What exactly is a prophage?
A prophage is the name for the genome when the phage genome has been integrated into the bacterial genome.
What could be some specific applications of isolating Isby’s enzymes?
By isolating Isby’s enzymes, it could also allow us to better know how to remove these enzymes from Isby. For enzymes such as integrase that allows the phage genome to be integrated with the bacterial genome, this could allow us to make Isby a better candidate for phage therapy.
You had success in figuring out what family Isby was in. Would you have had different future steps if you had found it was in a different family? What is the importance of the particular family?
I don’t think that the future directions would have been too different, however, the phage family does also indicate if the phage is temperate or lytic, as well as it’s morphotype, which gives us insight into how specifically the phage injects it’s DNA. This could have potentially given us more opportunities to go straight into phage therapy applications if Isby was in a lytic cluster.