By Rae Garber, Amanda Donovan

Faculty Mentor: Swati Agrawal

Abstract

Bacteriophages have emerged as a promising treatment for drug-resistant pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but the structure and function of most phage gene products cannot be predicted. We used genome-wide overexpression screenings to identify genes encoded by mycobacteriophage Mercurio whose products inhibit host growth. Out of sixteen recently assessed genes, seven inhibit the growth of host bacterium Mycobacterium smegmatis when overexpressed from an inducible vector. Of these seven genes, four have no known function, and two have hypothetical roles encoding transmembrane and RNA-binding proteins. This research, as part of the HHMI-supported Science Education Alliance Gene-function Exploration by a Network of Emerging Scientists (SEA-GENES) project, provides scaffolding for future exploration into mechanisms of cytotoxicity and phage-host interactions.