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Texas Tech University

URC 2023 Abstract

Arya Sreenivas

The Uncovering of Arthrobacter globiformis-infecting bacteriophage, PrairieDogTown

The most abundant biological entities on the planet are bacteriophages (phages) which have evolved and infected bacteria throughout the centuries. Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) is a worldwide program to characterize the phage infecting bacteria in the phylum Actinomycetota. It does this by sending students out to collect and send phages to the HHMI to be sequenced. As one of the students working with the SEA-PHAGES Program, I collected soil and then cultured phage on the host Arthrobacter globiformis. We then isolated the phage culturing the bacteria with the phage and purified the phage from plaques (bacteria kill zones) through triple plaque purification. We named the phage PrairieDogTown. Additionally, a lacy plate was grown and scraped to aid the goal of amplifying the phage. We used electron microscope to characterize the morphology of the phage. The DNA was extracted and submitted for sequencing.  For the next steps, we will annotate the phage genomes to identify the genes and their functions. Once this is done, the phage's annotated gene sequence will be submitted to NCBI for public availability.

Presenter: 400

Arya Sreenivas Sophomore Honors College Texas Tech University Affiliations: TrUE Scholars Toreador

Abstract: C400

Impact Area: Environment

Session: C - Wed. April 2, 10:00 AM, TTU Museum Sculpture Garden

Project Author(s)

Melanie Baires, Olivia Kelly, Theoren Markusson, George Sander, Arya Sreenivas, Libertyann Ward-Polonski, Damian Al Khayatt, Abigail Frank, Sophia German-Kavle, Morgan Reed, Shreya Srivastava, Carson Bellew, Christian DeLuna, Francesca Makilan, Austen Roswell, Fahareen B. Mosharraf, Allie C. Smith, Lisa M. Bono

Mentor

Lisa Bono Biological Sciences TTU College of Arts & Sciences