Bacteriophages are the most ubiquitous organisms found within the biosphere, composed of an estimated 1031 particles worldwide. The evolutionary “arms-race” between bacteriophages and bacteria have set the stage the natural selection process that has underpinned biological complexity. Because of the sheer volume of phage particles, it is practically impossible to identify every unique phage available; however, the combined power of laboratory techniques and computer prediction software has made the identification of a few of these phages possible. Under the guidance of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Alliance-Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Science (SEA-PHAGES) isolation guide, solid and liquid samples from three locations across the Hampden-Sydney College campus in central Virginia were tested for the presence of M. smegmatis phage. Although we were unable to isolate novel phages from these areas, we were successful in performing bioinformatic characterization of a phage previously isolated but not studied in detail. Using the computer programs DNA Master and Phage Evidence Collection and Annotation Network (PECAAN), we discovered a significant error in previous annotations done on the M. smegmatis phage Samcro that we were able to correct prior to submission of the phages gene annotation to GenBank for publication. The phage, renamed Dawnguard, possesses several genes of interest, including a glycosyltransferase, immunity repressors, and a resolvase, that may explain its unique adaptations to effective reproduction in M. smegmatis.
Hampden-Sydney College Office of Undergraduate Research
