Life Sciences Seminar: The art of making 100 heads: The known (and unknown) mechanisms of jumbo phage head assembly
Life Sciences Seminar
The art of making 100 heads: The known (and unknown) mechanisms of jumbo phage head assembly
Dr. Julie Thomas
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences
Rochester Institute of Technology
Abstract:
Jumbo phages are tailed phages with long genomes (>200 kb) that are packaged into virions that are larger and more complex compared to those of most other phage types. Despite the increased amounts of resources (in terms of DNA, protein, etc.) needed to form one jumbo phage virion, our data has shown that jumbo phages like Salmonella phage SPN3US produce comparable amounts of progeny (>100 virions/cell) in similar times to smaller phages. How jumbo phages achieve that feat, especially the formation of their capsids or heads, is largely an enigma. This talk will discuss what we have learned about jumbo phage head assembly using genetics, mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy, particularly proteolytic cleavage of head proteins. Historically, the data implied some cleavage events were sloppy but recent findings support a refined structural relevance to those apparent imperfections.
Intended Audience:
Beginners, undergraduates, graduates. Those with interest in the topic.
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