Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Characterizing the Function of Bacteriophage Cain Genes in Host Mycobacterium smegmatis

Knowledge of bacteriophages and their use has been around since the beginning of the 20th century, but until a more pronounced understanding of individual genotypic functions are known, their use is limited. This set of research has been performed in cooperation with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science Education Alliance (SEA) GENES program. The goal of SEA-GENES is to generate expression libraries for phage genes, test the effects of these genes on bacterial host phenotypes, and investigate possible targets in the host proteome of these genes. Our phage of interest, Cain, is a cluster K6 temperate bacteriophage with 102 genes of which only 30 have a hypothesized function. Using molecular cloning with Escherichia coli and phenotypic assays, we are seeking to determine each individual gene's function. Thus far, each student has been responsible for engineering a plasmid to express their gene in host Mycobacterium smegmatis followed by conducting cytotoxic and defense assays to determine if their phage gene modifies the host phenotype. The results of this research will add to the growing knowledge of host-pathogen interaction with potential applications in the therapeutic and biotechnological fields.