Life Sciences Commons^™

Characterizing The Intact Prophage Of Mycobacterium Chelonae Bergey, Erica Sewell

Honors College

Mycobacteriophage (phage), are viruses that infect bacteria. All bacteria can be

infected by phage, and each bacterial species has a unique set of phage that infect them, making phage prime candidates for studying viral diversity and evolution. Some phage integrate their genome into the host genome upon infection (prophage), where they may potentially remain indefinitely, coevolving with the host, and providing growth factors and other benefits to the host. The purpose of my research is to characterize a prophage within the genome of the bacterial host Mycobacterium chelonae Bergey to determine if it is still functional and potentially impacting the …