Project Type
Poster
Publication Date
4-14-2022
Department or Program
Biological Sciences
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Faculty Mentor #1
Lewis, Lynn
Abstract
Bacteriophages, also called phages, are viruses that only infect bacteria. Phages are used in phage therapy, which is a new treatment for bacterial infections and hopes to be the solution to antibiotic resistance. Each bacterium has a unique set of phages that can infect it and finding these phages can be difficult and tedious. The aim of this research was to grow phages on Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki (Btk) and do a host range study on an array of Bacillus species. I also analyzed and compared the phage genomes to find genes of interest and identify genes that could be responsible for infection of a certain bacterium or bacterial strains. Btk was chosen as the host because of its close relationship with B. anthracis, the bacterium that causes anthrax. It was found that the genomic similarity of the bacteria and phage and probability of a successful infection had a positive relationship. Many genes of interest were found and marked for further study to either determine function or homologs, but no genes were identified to be the possible gene responsible for infection of a certain bacterium or bacterial strains.