Bacteriophage – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Bacteriophages |
answer
|
question
Bacteriophages: The Basics |
answer
•Tend to have large genomes and complex structure •Most phage are dsDNA viruses but some are ssDNA, ssRNA, or dsRNA •Phage head (protein) contains nucleic acid •Viral ligand that interacts with bacterial receptor located on tail fibers •Sheath (hollow) contracts in some phage during binding to bacterial cell •Most infect by drilling a hole through peptidoglycan and injecting DNA directly into bacterial cell while the rest of the virus stays extracellular |
question
Bacteriophage: Infection |
answer
-Adsorption of the phage to the bacterial cells -Sheath contraction -Nucleic acid injection |
question
Phage Multiplication: Lytic |
answer
-Lytic(replication culminates in lysing and thus killing bacterium) -Phage takes over host biosynthetic machinery -Phage mRNAs and proteins produced, sometimes degrading host chromosome -New phage particles are assembled inside bacterium -Bacterium lyses due to accumulation of phage lysis protein -Intracellular phage released; up to 1000 phage/bacterium possible |
question
Phage Multiplication: Lysogenic |
answer
-Lysogenic/temperate (quiescent state in the bacterium such that host is unharmed) -Phage chromosome circularizes -Phage-encoded enzyme performs recombination between particular site on circularized phage and particular site on host chromosome– integration of the phage DNA occurs– cell now referred to as lysogen -Phage genome is repressed by phage-encoded repressor protein |
question
Transduction |
answer
-The transfer of viral or bacterial, or both, DNA from one cell to another via bacteriophage |
question
Mechanisms of Transduction |
answer
Bacterial gene transfer via a virus particle: -During assembly stage of lytic replication, DNA fragments from host genome are packaged instead of phage DNA (GENERALIZED) -During excision of prophage, fragment of chromosomal DNA can be excised with phage DNA (SPECIALIZED) Lysogenic conversion: Prophage genes (inserted into chromosome) can increase the survival fitness of the host cell in particular situations: -Phage repressor and super-infection exclusion provide immunity to the host against lytic infection -Can convert non-pathogenic bacterial strains into pathogenic ones (encode toxins, for example) |
question
Bacteriophages as Antibiotics? |
answer
•Harness the potential of phage to quickly lyse/kill bacterial host •Once it infects its target, it quickly (about 30 min) generates 100s of copies of itself that search out additional microbes to kill •Because phages are ‘living’ organisms (unlike antibiotics), they can evolve as the bacteria evolve; so as bacteria evolve to resist phage, the phage evolves too •Infect only bacteria so they are harmless to mammalian cells and to non-target bacteria (unlike antibiotics), which leaves beneficial gut flora intact |
question
Problems with Phage Therapy |
answer
•Because one phage typically infects only one type of bacterium, you must know what a person is infected with prior to treatment and usually need to use a cocktail of phages •Most phages elicit a strong antibody response such that only one treatment will be possible •There is potential to release large quantities of endotoxin from lysed bacterial cells •Most pharmaceutical companies are not interested in investing in clinical trials (very expensive) because they cannot patent the rights to phage therapy (the concept is almost 100 years old)
**However, due to emergence of many antibiotic-resistant bugs in recent years, some human phage therapies are becoming available |
