Cracking the Peripeteia Code: Discovering and Characterizing a Newfound Virus
Submission Type
Event
Faculty Advisor
Richard Alvey
Expected Graduation Date
2023
Location
Center for Natural Sciences
Start Date
4-4-2020 2:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2020 3:00 PM
Disciplines
Biology | Education
Abstract
Although bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, little is known about the impact they have on life, how they evolve, and the benefits they offer. Researching bacteriophages could provide new insights to the scientific community: it could help understand the role of bacteria in causing disease, the potential of using phages to treat diseases, and broaden the study of molecular biology. In the search of a virus to study, Peripeteia, a rare bacteriophage, was recently discovered from a water sample taken from a lake in White Oak Park in Bloomington, IL. The phage was grown using Rhodobacter capsulatus as its host bacteria. R. capsulatus bacteriophages, although common, are one of the least studied groups of bacteriophages. After having its genome sequenced, Peripeteia was found to be a member of the RcD cluster, a group of 10 other nearly genetically identical bacteriophages. Peripeteia is most related to Maeve, who are 99.61% identical. After annotating its genome we found that most of the identified genes have unknown functions. Studying Peripeteia and its genome allows for further insight into the evolution and gene function of bacteriophages.
Cracking the Peripeteia Code: Discovering and Characterizing a Newfound Virus
Center for Natural Sciences
Although bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—are the most abundant biological entities on Earth, little is known about the impact they have on life, how they evolve, and the benefits they offer. Researching bacteriophages could provide new insights to the scientific community: it could help understand the role of bacteria in causing disease, the potential of using phages to treat diseases, and broaden the study of molecular biology. In the search of a virus to study, Peripeteia, a rare bacteriophage, was recently discovered from a water sample taken from a lake in White Oak Park in Bloomington, IL. The phage was grown using Rhodobacter capsulatus as its host bacteria. R. capsulatus bacteriophages, although common, are one of the least studied groups of bacteriophages. After having its genome sequenced, Peripeteia was found to be a member of the RcD cluster, a group of 10 other nearly genetically identical bacteriophages. Peripeteia is most related to Maeve, who are 99.61% identical. After annotating its genome we found that most of the identified genes have unknown functions. Studying Peripeteia and its genome allows for further insight into the evolution and gene function of bacteriophages.