A dot plot compares the genomes of two phages and shows where there are similarities and differences. It’s a helpful tool to confirm if a phage is part of the cluster we suspect it’s in.
For your plates how does having a cloudy ring , indicating that the bacteriophage is temperate, how does that tell us that the bacteriophages are temperate, what observations would indicate that it was a lytic bacteriophage?
If it was a lytic phage the plate would have completely clear plaques, as the phage would be entering the lytic cycle with all the bacteria it infected and killing them. In the lysogenic phage some bacteria have the temperate phages DNA inserted into it’s genome, which prevents the cell from being infected by further phage and keeps it alive. This is occurring in the cloudy ring portion.
Generally environmental changes will determine the temperate phage’s “decision.” I don’t know for sure but due to the cloudy rings that form in the bacterial lawn with cleared inner areas I suspect that for this particular phage it has something to do with the availability of bacteria to infect near it, and that it stays in the lysogenic cycle when it wishes to survive longer to replicate at a later time.
What is a dot plot and how would it help in the future?
A dot plot compares the genomes of two phages and shows where there are similarities and differences. It’s a helpful tool to confirm if a phage is part of the cluster we suspect it’s in.
For your plates how does having a cloudy ring , indicating that the bacteriophage is temperate, how does that tell us that the bacteriophages are temperate, what observations would indicate that it was a lytic bacteriophage?
If it was a lytic phage the plate would have completely clear plaques, as the phage would be entering the lytic cycle with all the bacteria it infected and killing them. In the lysogenic phage some bacteria have the temperate phages DNA inserted into it’s genome, which prevents the cell from being infected by further phage and keeps it alive. This is occurring in the cloudy ring portion.
What factors influence the phage “decision” to be either lytic or lysogenic? Are there evolutionary advantages to one or the other?
Generally environmental changes will determine the temperate phage’s “decision.” I don’t know for sure but due to the cloudy rings that form in the bacterial lawn with cleared inner areas I suspect that for this particular phage it has something to do with the availability of bacteria to infect near it, and that it stays in the lysogenic cycle when it wishes to survive longer to replicate at a later time.