Reaction Paper On Bacteriophages

6. Humans should not be concerned about the bacteriophages infecting other cells because each bacteriophage is particular to a certain bacteria. If the bacterial cell exhibits traits that are desirable to the certain bacteriophage, then the phage will chose to bind and infect it, otherwise people have nothing to worry about.

Isolating and characterize a novel phage from the environment requires several steps and several frustrations. By isolating and investigating a phage found in the Pullman region can hopefully lead to a newly discovered phage that can help researchers discover more about the life cycle and process of phage infection. Some phage infection can be good due to infecting the bacteria that is not wanted or is harmful to the environment or humans. Within this lab, there were steps taken necessary to isolate a novel phage that was obtained from the surrounding Pullman area. This report reflects plaques being isolated but then stopped due to errors and loss of plates. The final touches and procedures were accomplished with a given DNA ladder that was

The titer of recombinant phage was determined with the number of plaques on the E.coli K plates and the titer of total phage progeny was determined with the number of plaque on the E.coli B plates.

6 petri dishes were labeled, 3 petri dishes P 105 B, P 106 B, P 107 B, and the other 3 petri dishes P 10 K, P 102 K, P 103 K and they were set aside. A series of dilutions for the 1x bacteriophage T4 rII

The main objectives of this experiment included making dilutions of solutions, plating phage or bacteria, and determining the number of bacterial viruses or phage in a suspension. It was also conducted to demonstrate that two different mutants of phage T4 can exchange genetic material to give rise to wild-type phage. The experiment was used to distinguish mutants from wild-type by their host specificity. The recombination in bacteriophage was performed to determine the concentration of unadsorbed phage from the U series plates, total concentration from B series, and concentration of

This project is all about isolating bacteriophage in soil. They come in different sizes and shapes, each to their own unique look. Phages have a protective protein head that contains DNA and a hollow tube tails (http://phages.org/bacteriophage/). Since bacteriophage cannot reproduce and replicate themselves, they need a host to do the work for

The purpose of this laboratory exercise was to perform tests necessary to be able to distinguish one microorganism from 10 others. Using a series of biochemical tests and characteristics, unknown #22 was concluded to be Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A dichotomous key was mapped out and used during this process. Using this provided guidance as well as organization as to what the result may be.

Each batch of phage was used to infect a different culture of bacteria. After infection had taken place, each culture was whirled in a blender, removing any remaining phage and phage parts from the outside of the bacterial cells. Finally, the cultures were centrifuged, or spun at high speeds, to separate the bacteria from the phage debris.

In order to investigate the phage further, an EM image was taken allowing additional discoveries involving the physical structure of the phage. The length of the tail was four times as long as the diameter of the isometric capsid. This lead to the conclusion that WG belongs to the siphoviridae family of phage. To confirm the phage obtained belonged to the siphoviridae family it was compared to another siphoviridae phage named Rosebush [1]. Rosebush also had a long tail in comparison to the diameter of its’ capsid, thus providing additional evidence that WG belongs to the siphoviridae family. The fact that WG is siphoviridae tells us that it is a very common form of phage [2]. “The siphoviridae family makes up 90% of all known mycobacteria” [2]. Also, “siphioveridae phage contain a double-stranded DNA with an average genome size of 50 kb” [6]. Following the EM image lab, two gels were ran utilizing two different samples of the phage (E1 & E2). The E2/E3 gel displayed that the phage’s DNA contained well over 10,000 base pairs. The number of base pairs leads to the conclusion that WG contained a large amount of genomic

According to “Injected Bacteria Shrink Tumors in Rats, Dogs and Humans” (2015) a bacterium normally found in oxygen poor soil has been genetically modified to be target specific to a tumor that has oxygen starved cells. Once introduced to a person, these microorganisms can replicate and inhibit their growth and destroy it. In one study, three live tissue models had “complete eradication of their tumors” while in the other three, the tumor “shrunk by at least 30%.” There are also experiments to use bacteria to treat other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that causes the body to attack the joints. In addition, viruses can be used to treat diseases. It’s interesting to think you can take a virus to destroy a bacterium. In fact, there are naturally occurring viruses called bacteriophages, meaning eats bacteria, which attack them. This was discovered before the discovery of antibiotics, but bacteriophages initially were not successful. Soon antibiotics became the tool of choice and bacteriophages became a disregarded avenue to fight bacteria. Unfortunately, the emergence of multi-resistant bacteria is a growing concern because the surviving bacteria have learned to protect itself from it. As a result, scientists are revisiting studies to treat bacteria infections with

Bacillus cereus is a Gram-positive, facultatively aerobic sporeformer whose cells are large rods and whose spores do not swell the sporangium. These and other characteristics, including biochemical features, are used to differentiate and confirm the presence B. cereus, although these characteristics are shared with B. cereus var. mycoides, B. thuringiensis and B. anthracis. Differentiation of these organisms depends upon determination of motility (most B. cereus are motile), presence of toxin crystals (B. thuringiensis), hemolytic activity (B. cereus and others are beta hemolytic whereas B. anthracis is usually nonhemolytic), and rhizoid growth which is characteristic of B. cereus var. mycoides.

The uses of lambda or MI3 phages to produce phage plaques

Phage therapy involves the use of bacteriophages to treat specific pathogenic bacteria. The bacteriophages infect or kill pathogenic bacteria upon encounter with them. In 1915, Frederick Twort discovered the viruses of bacteria (Abedon, 2011). The bacteriophage era began when Felix d'Hérelle published a seminal publication that demonstrated “un bactériophage obligatoire” (Abedon, 2011) Soon after, microbiologists began to include the phages idea into their ideas. Novel therapies are needed to kill pathogenic bacteria. Phage therapy offers an alternative to the antibiotic treatment of bacteria. Even though bacteria can gradually resist phage, the resistance will not be as pronounced as the resistance to bacteria. Phage therapy is specific

The war on bacteria is a never ending fight. However, everyday scientists are coming up with a new study on how to fight against it. From farms to science labs bacteria is being fought against. Whether it be a spray to sprits on fruit for longer shelf life to new forms of antibiotics. Scientists are determined to win the war against

In 1928 Scottish biologist Sir Alexander Fleming discovered the remarkable antibiotic penicillin. This drug revolutionized the medical world with its ability to combat infectious disease which had for so long plagued mankind. Though still used today nearly a century later, penicillin and other antibiotic drugs like it are rapidly becoming ineffective at combating diseases. The reason why is like other organisms bacteria have the ability to adapt and evolve to survive hostile environmental factors, which in this case means they are becoming resistant to antibiotics. So the problem society is faced with is how to replace these revolutionary drugs like penicillin which are rapidly becoming ineffective; the answer is bacteriophages. Bacteriophages (or viruses) are the hunters of the microbiome; and unlike some other antibiotics they have the ability to change and adapt with bacteria in order to stay relevant. What will be attempted in this lab is to condition bacteriophage through artificial selection over multiple generations to become more effective in fighting specific species of bacteria.