7. Bacteriophages 1 Flashcards
What is the unique thing about MS2 phage?
protein translation
what is the unique thing about phiX174 phage?
rolling circle replication of DNA
what is the unique thing about T7 phage?
transcription coordinated with entry
what is the unique thing about lambda phage?
prophage (integrates phage DNA into bacterial host DNA) and complex regulation of gene expression
which domains of life are infected by viruses?
all 3! bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes
what are the 3 similarities btwn bacteria and archaea?
- unicellular
- circular DNA
- no nucleus
what are 9 unique characteristics that archaea have but bacteria don’t?
- cell walls made of impermeable S layer proteins
- special phospholipids
- translation initiation mimics eukaryotes
- uses methionine (not N-formyl methionine) to start translation
- histone-like proteins to package chromosomes
- complex RNA pol machinery
- DNA replication machinery mimics eukaryotes
- distinct rRNA sequences
- live in extreme environments
what is the morphology of viruses of archaea?
UNUSUAL!
- lemon
- droplet
- bottle
etc
what type of genomes do viruses of archaea have?
dsDNA except 1 has ssDNA
describe the envelopes of viruses of archaea?
MOST have internal or external lipid envelopes
what does it mean for viruses of archaea to be temperate?
temperate = LATENT –> they integrate their genome into host cell DNA without killing the cell
describe the DNA polymerase of viruses of archaea?
many don’t have identifiable DNA polymerase gene
what virus is this?
sulfolobus spindle-shaped virus 1 (SSV1)
what virus is this?
acidianus two tailed virus (ATV)
what virus is this?
acidianus bottle-shaped virus (ABV)
what virus is this?
sulfolobus neozealandicus droplet-shaped virus (SNDV)
why do we not need to worry about viruses of archaea?
we don’t go to the extreme environments where archaea live
when were phages discovered? by who?
Twort and d’Herelle discovered them in 1915/1917
when were phages first visualized?
in 1940
what was found in 1969? by who?
Delbruck, Hershey, and Luria found how phages replicate DNA and express genes
i.e. using phages, found that DNA was genetic material bc DNA alone could dictate production of new phages
what was found in 1978? by who?
Arber, Nathans, and Smith discovered restriction enzymes and how they could be used to open a vector and insert DNA for cloning
how do bacteria use restriction enzymes? explain
bacteria use them as a defense mechanism against phages
restriction enzymes target a small DNA sequence –> this sequence is modified in bacteria but remains the same in phages so the enzymes can cleave phage DNA
when were viruses sequenced? what type of tools were used + 3 examples?
MS2 - 1976
phiX174 - 1977
lambda - 1982 using PHAGE-DERIVED TOOLS –> restriction enzymes, T4 DNA ligase, M13 vectors
how do we use phage-derived tools?
to sequence everything
what was found in the 1990s?
there is an abundance of phages in our ecosystem that have co-evolved with bacteria via gene transfer
besides restriction enzymes, what is another defense mechanism of bacteria against phages? how does it work?
CRISPR
acts as bacterial immune system memory –> phage DNA is inserted into host DNA so the bacteria can remember which phages were there to attack upon next infection
how do we use CRISPR in labs?
to edit genes
what is phage therapy used for?
to target bacterial infection
where does the word bacteriophage come from?
bacteria + phagein (to devour)