Poster Preview
Bacteriophages typically follow either a lytic or lysogenic life cycle, yet the genetic mechanisms controlling the decision in Arthrobacter phages remain poorly understood. In the well-studied phage Lambda, various proteins are found to regulate the control between lysogeny and lysis. Inspired by this model, this research project investigates whether LeBruni contains immunity genes and a defined immunity cassette. LeBruni genes were annotated and analyzed using bioinformatics tools such as NCBI Blast, HHPred, PhageDB, and Phamerator to predict functions of the gene products. The immunity cassette in LeBruni determined to span genes 39 – 54, with gene 39 encoding a tyrosine integrase and gene 54 encoding the excisionase. The lambda C1 immunity repressor (IR) is a helix-turn-helix (HTH) DNA binding protein. Lamda also encodes cro, a smaller HTH protein that controls the lysis lifecycle. Reverse Gene 52 and forward gene 53 both encode HTH proteins and have a similar genome organization to the lambda IR and cro. HHpred analysis shows that gp52 (132 amino acids) hits to the lambda protein and aligns with the HTH region. gp53 is much smaller at 75 amino acids and likely serves cro function, although no hits to cro could be identified. Gene 51 in LeBruni encodes an IrrE like protein implicated in DNA binding and stress protection. In summary, these findings show that LeBruni contains a defined immunity cassette. This work can help improve the understanding of regulatory mechanisms in Arthrobacter phages that impact their interactions with the host bacteria.
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Mentor Information
Dr. Richard Pollenz
Description
Bacteriophages typically follow either a lytic or lysogenic life cycle, yet the genetic mechanisms controlling the decision in Arthrobacter phages remain poorly understood. In the well-studied phage Lambda, various proteins are found to regulate the control between lysogeny and lysis. Inspired by this model, this research project investigates whether LeBruni contains immunity genes and a defined immunity cassette. LeBruni genes were annotated and analyzed using bioinformatics tools such as NCBI Blast, HHPred, PhageDB, and Phamerator to predict functions of the gene products. The immunity cassette in LeBruni determined to span genes 39 – 54, with gene 39 encoding a tyrosine integrase and gene 54 encoding the excisionase. The lambda C1 immunity repressor (IR) is a helix-turn-helix (HTH) DNA binding protein. Lamda also encodes cro, a smaller HTH protein that controls the lysis lifecycle. Reverse Gene 52 and forward gene 53 both encode HTH proteins and have a similar genome organization to the lambda IR and cro. HHpred analysis shows that gp52 (132 amino acids) hits to the lambda protein and aligns with the HTH region. gp53 is much smaller at 75 amino acids and likely serves cro function, although no hits to cro could be identified. Gene 51 in LeBruni encodes an IrrE like protein implicated in DNA binding and stress protection. In summary, these findings show that LeBruni contains a defined immunity cassette. This work can help improve the understanding of regulatory mechanisms in Arthrobacter phages that impact their interactions with the host bacteria.
Annotation of the Immunity Cassette in AY Cluster Phage Lebruni
Bacteriophages typically follow either a lytic or lysogenic life cycle, yet the genetic mechanisms controlling the decision in Arthrobacter phages remain poorly understood. In the well-studied phage Lambda, various proteins are found to regulate the control between lysogeny and lysis. Inspired by this model, this research project investigates whether LeBruni contains immunity genes and a defined immunity cassette. LeBruni genes were annotated and analyzed using bioinformatics tools such as NCBI Blast, HHPred, PhageDB, and Phamerator to predict functions of the gene products. The immunity cassette in LeBruni determined to span genes 39 – 54, with gene 39 encoding a tyrosine integrase and gene 54 encoding the excisionase. The lambda C1 immunity repressor (IR) is a helix-turn-helix (HTH) DNA binding protein. Lamda also encodes cro, a smaller HTH protein that controls the lysis lifecycle. Reverse Gene 52 and forward gene 53 both encode HTH proteins and have a similar genome organization to the lambda IR and cro. HHpred analysis shows that gp52 (132 amino acids) hits to the lambda protein and aligns with the HTH region. gp53 is much smaller at 75 amino acids and likely serves cro function, although no hits to cro could be identified. Gene 51 in LeBruni encodes an IrrE like protein implicated in DNA binding and stress protection. In summary, these findings show that LeBruni contains a defined immunity cassette. This work can help improve the understanding of regulatory mechanisms in Arthrobacter phages that impact their interactions with the host bacteria.
