Phage Biology

Gautam Dutta 1, Naomi Hoyle 1, Raul Raya 1,2, Andrew Brabban 1, Elizabeth Kutter 1;
1Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, 2Cerela, Tucuman, ARGENTINA.

Bacteriophages are the most abundant living entities on earth (10^32), playing key roles in bacterial ecology and oceanic nutrient balance, and interest in their exploration is spreading far beyond their fundamental role in developing molecular biology. Phages are successfully being used therapeutically, as natural microbe hunters, and in industrial processes; they offer unparalleled tools for teaching microbial physiology and ecology as well as molecular biology and critical thinking to students at all levels. Phage studies link well with Evergreen’s unique approach to education, which is focused on interdisciplinary study, collaborative learning, personal engagement and linking theory with practical applications. Once students learn basic phage techniques and theory, it is exciting to come up with new approaches and ideas. Fifteen years ago, some undergrads asked; "Why does the T4 infection protocol require vigorous aeration? Don't they live in anaerobic guts?” Finding no relevant literature, they soon showed that T4 could infect well anaerobically – and learned about anaerobic respiration and fermentation. Those experiments led to our current work on isolating phage from sheep feces and using T4-like phages to clear E. coli O157 from ruminant guts.

Other current student explorations include:

(1) Characterizing phages against Aeromonas salmonicida for treating furunculosis in salmon, in collaboration with NW Indian Fisheries and 2 high school teachers from Aberdeen

(2) Characterizing potentially therapeutic Pseudomonas phages for wound and burn victims and for cystic fibrosis lung infections, in collaboration with partners in The Republic of Georgia and supported by the Civilian Research and Development Foundation;

(3) Host range studies using a wide variety of phages and bacteria from our collection to explore the complexities of phage-host interactions and formulate potential therapeutic cocktails that will minimize development of resistance

(4) Using microscopy, molecular techniques, basic phage biology and classic literature searches to grok strange infection patterns and gain a better understanding of myoviridae morphogenesis. In all these cases, fresh student viewpoints, thought provoking reading of classic works, genomic analyses and innovative experiments are leading to important advances in our perception of phage biology as well as fostering student creativity, thirst for knowledge, and sense of membership in the scientific community.

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Last Updated: May 29, 2008

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