The Discovery, Isolation, and Annotation of SassyCat97: The Sassiest Bacteriophage Around — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

The Discovery, Isolation, and Annotation of SassyCat97: The Sassiest Bacteriophage Around

Name: Cara Hull
Major: Biology
Hometown: Colby, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah Tobiason
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Name: Erin Magennis
Major: Neuroscience and Biology
Hometown: Pewaukee, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah Tobiason
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Name: Claire Pfeffer
Major: Biology and Chemistry
Hometown: Oregon, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah Tobiason
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Name: Jelena Romanovic
Major: Biology
Hometown: Kenosha,WI
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah Tobiason
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Name: Paden Sheumaker
Major: Biology and Chemistry
Hometown: Des Moines, IA
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah Tobiason
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Course project
Funding: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Abstract

Bacteriophage are some of the most abundant entities in the world, yet were only discovered within the last 100 years, leaving billions undiscovered and unknown. Bacteriophage are a specific group of viruses that infect and kill bacterial cells. The phage takes over the host bacteria cell and uses its machinery to replicate and complete its life cycle. Through the SEA-PHAGES program this fall, the Carthage College Biology Department isolated 56 novel mycobacteriophages that infect Mycobacterium smegmatis, through the use of dilution assays. Electron microscopy was then completed to visualize the isolated phage, and the DNA from each was extracted in order to further analyze the phage. Some of the bacteriophages that were isolated include: SassyCat97, LittleHorror, Raine, SolarEclipse, ClearGhost, and Ment. Because of its high quantity and quality of DNA, SassyCat97 was sent off for sequencing at Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute. Due to the large diversity of bacteriophage, clusters have been formed based on similar sizes, proteins encoded, and the character of its genome ends. After sequencing, SassyCat97 was placed into cluster B1. Utilizing bioinformatic technologies including DNA Master, HHPred, BLASTp, and Phamerator, the annotation of SassyCat97’s genome has been completed. Further characterization of SassyCat97’s genome along with other genomes could lead to a better understanding of viral infections.

Poster file